A mother sought permission to travel with three children (ages 11, 7, and 6) to Pakistan for five weeks to visit their ailing maternal grandmother.
The father opposed the motion on two grounds: that the mother was a flight risk and that Pakistan posed an unwarranted risk of harm to the children.
The court found the mother was not a flight risk based on her strong ties to Canada, including Canadian citizenship, stable housing, ongoing education, and child care subsidies.
However, the court dismissed the motion based on the significant security risks in Pakistan, including terrorism, violent crime, and civil unrest, as documented in Canadian government travel advisories.
The court balanced the benefit to the children of visiting their grandmother against the very real risk of harm and concluded the risks outweighed the benefits.
