AD v. Windsor-Essex Children’s Aid Society, 2023 CFSRB 28

CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES REVIEW BOARD

BETWEEN:

AD Applicant

-and-

Windsor-Essex Children’s Aid Society Respondent

DECISION

Adjudicator: Tamara Jordan Date: March 29, 2023 Citation: 2023 CFSRB 28 Indexed As: AD v Windsor-Essex Children’s Aid Society (CYFSA s.120)

Introduction

1This is an Application filed with the Child and Family Services Review Board (“CFSRB”) under section 120 of the Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017, SO 2017, c.14, Sched.1 (the “Act”).

2This decision explains why the Application is being dismissed.

Background

3The CFSRB found the Application eligible to proceed under subsections 120(4)4 and 120(4)5 of the Act.

January 25, 2023 Pre-Hearing

4The first pre-hearing of this Application was held on January 25, 2023 by video conference. The CFSRB contacted the Applicant on that date when she did not appear at the scheduled 9:30 a.m. start time of the pre-hearing. The Applicant stated that she had not received the Notice of Pre-Hearing.

5The Applicant later joined that pre-hearing and stated that she had not received the Respondent’s Response to her Application. As set out in the related Pre-Hearing/Mediation Report (“January 25, 2023 PHR”), on the consent of the parties, that pre-hearing was adjourned to February 27, 2023 to accommodate the Applicant and allow her time to review the Response.

February 27, 2023 Pre-Hearing

6At the 9:30 a.m. start of the second pre-hearing by video conference on February 27, 2023, the Respondent representatives were present but the Applicant was not. After some correspondence between the Applicant and the CFSRB, the Applicant stated she was experiencing some difficulties connecting with the Zoom video application and requested to participate in the pre-hearing by telephone. At approximately 9:57 a.m., the pre-hearing proceeded in a hybrid format with the CFSRB members and Respondent representatives participating by Zoom video application and the Applicant participating by telephone.

7At the pre-hearing, there was a review and discussion of the Participation Agreement (“PA”) that parties would be required to sign if they wished to engage in mediation.

8The Applicant had several questions about the PA as it related to her court proceedings and other matters outside the CFSRB process. As the Applicant appeared to be seeking legal advice related to some of her questions, I was unable to provide a direct “yes or no” answer to them as she requested. I am a neutral in the proceeding and cannot provide legal advice. I informed the Applicant that she may wish to seek answers from a legal representative and that mediation was a voluntary process. It appeared that the Applicant became frustrated by my responses to her questions.

9The Applicant then informed me that she was unwilling to participate further without me providing “yes or no” answers to her questions and she hung up her telephone at approximately 11:00am.

Correspondence from the Applicant on March 1, 2023

10On March 1, 2023, the Applicant sent two emails to the CFSRB and the Respondent, as well as to numerous other recipients outside of the CFSRB. Both emails contained similar content. In one of the several paragraphs in each of her emails, the Applicant mentioned the CFSRB pre-hearing and mediation process. The emails contained numerous other allegations and issues unrelated to the CFSRB.

March 2, 2023 Pre-Hearing Report and Directions

11Further to the February 27, 2023 pre-hearing and the Applicant’s March 1, 2023 email to the CFSRB, the CFSRB sent a Pre-Hearing Report dated March 2, 2023 (“March 2, 2023 PHR”) to the parties containing several directions.

12In the March 2, 2023 PHR, the Applicant was reminded that discussions during the CFSRB’s proceedings are confidential, whether or not a PA is signed for the purposes of a mediation. The Confidentiality Order in the January 25, 2023 PHR and the March 2, 2023 PHR sets this out explicitly. This is set out again below.

13The Applicant was also directed at paragraph 17 of the March 2, 2023 PHR as follows:

[17] On or before March 10, 2023, the Applicant is directed to send an email to the CFSRB, copying the Respondent, to inform the CFSRB whether she wishes to proceed with a hearing of her Application. If the Applicant does not contact the CFSRB by March 10, 2023, the CFSRB may consider the Application abandoned and dismiss it.

14The March 2, 2023 PHR also provided several directions to the Applicant should she wish to proceed with a hearing of her Application, including related to possible dates for a further case management conference to prepare for a hearing.

15The Applicant did not respond to the March 2, 2023 PHR and has not sent any correspondence to the CFSRB since her March 1, 2023 emails described above.

16On March 9, 2023, the CFSRB received an email that included a letter from the Applicant to several addressees. The email address of the sender of that email was not affiliated with the Application and included the name of a person who was not the Applicant. That email did not respond to the March 2, 2023 PHR.

Analysis

17I am satisfied that the Applicant received the March 2, 2023 PHR as it was sent to the email address that the Applicant had used just the day before to send email to the CFSRB. The March 2, 2023 PHR emailed to the Applicant was not returned as undeliverable.

18During the February 27, 2023 pre-hearing, the Applicant informed me that she was unwilling to participate further without me providing particular responses to her questions and then intentionally hung up and discontinued her participation in the pre-hearing.

19Despite her abrupt departure from the February 27, 2023 pre-hearing, the Applicant was provided with the opportunity to inform the CFSRB that she still wished to proceed with the hearing of her Application. The March 2, 2023 PHR provided a clear direction to the Applicant to allow her to do so.

20The March 2, 2023 PHR also clearly indicated that if the Applicant “does not contact the CFSRB by March 10, 2023, the CFSRB may consider the Application abandoned and dismiss it”.

21The Applicant has not contacted the CFSRB since the March 2, 2023 PHR was emailed to her on that same date.

22I conclude that the Applicant has abandoned her Application.

Order

23The Application is dismissed as abandoned.

Confidentiality Order

24Pursuant to Rules 9.3 and 9.4 of the CFSRB’s Rules of Procedure, parties and their representatives must not use, share, discuss or disclose any CFSRB documents or decisions or any other documents or information provided or used in this Application with anyone, including through the media or online. The CFSRB prohibits the use of any of this information for any purpose outside of the CFSRB’s proceedings, except with an order of the Court or the CFSRB, as appropriate.