The Nogdawindamin Family and Community Services brought a child protection application and a motion for temporary care and custody concerning three children.
The court critically reviewed the society's procedural haste in bringing the application and motion on short notice, noting it circumvented standard Family Law Rules for respondent reply times and motion notice periods.
The judge emphasized the importance of procedural fairness, particularly given the power imbalance between societies and parents in child protection cases.
The court dismissed the society's motion for temporary care and custody and access claims, instead making a temporary care and custody order keeping the children in their current customary and kinship placements without society supervision, adjourning the society's motion for a proper hearing.
