Nirmala Armstrong

The applicant, a former step-parent, sought a contact order with her former partner's child, who has Autism Spectrum Disorder.

The child's biological parents, who share equal parenting time and decision-making responsibility, opposed the contact and brought a motion for summary judgment to dismiss the application.

The court applied the principle of parental autonomy, finding that the parents' decision to end contact was reasonable and did not imperil the child's best interests.

The court granted the summary judgment motion, dismissing the application, and awarded costs to the parents.

The applicant mother sought a temporary order to relocate with the parties' three children to Alberta or, alternatively, outside the Greater Toronto Area, citing rising living costs and alleged harassment by the father.

The respondent father opposed the motion, raising concerns about the relocation plan's specifics and the mother's non-compliance with the existing parenting order.

The court dismissed the mother's motion, finding she failed to demonstrate a material change in circumstances affecting the children's best interests or compelling reasons for temporary relocation.

The court emphasized the mother's non-compliance with the current parenting order, the vagueness of her relocation plan, the lack of the children's views (especially the eldest child's school choice), and the potential negative impact on the father's parenting time.

The applicants, operators of a restaurant, brought a constitutional challenge against the Reopening Ontario Act and its Step 3 Regulation, specifically targeting the masking and proof of vaccination requirements.

They argued these measures infringed their rights under sections 2, 7, 8, and 15 of the Charter.

The court dismissed the application, finding no infringement of the Charter rights, as the Charter does not protect purely economic interests or the right to operate a business free of regulation.

The court further held that even if there were an infringement, the public health measures were justified under section 1 of the Charter.