JG-M v. Family and Children’s Services of the Waterloo Region, 2024 CFSRB 117

CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES REVIEW BOARD

BETWEEN:

JG-M Applicant

-and-

Family and Children’s Services of the Waterloo Region Respondent

DECISION

Adjudicator: Tamara Jordan Date: October 29, 2024 Citation: 2024 CFSRB 117 Indexed As: JG-M v Family and Children’s Services of the Waterloo Region (CYFSA s.120)

OVERVIEW

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, S.O. 2017, c.14, Sched.1 (the “Act”).

ISSUE

2The issue is:

a. Is the Application eligible for review by the CFSRB?

RESULT

3The CFSRB finds that the Application is not eligible for review.

ANALYSIS

4The Applicant identifies himself in the Application as the father of two children. The Applicant alleges that the Respondent has “invoked on [his] rights” (including freedom of speech) and discriminated against him, contrary to the Human Rights Code, R.S.O. 1990, c. H.19. The Applicant also alleges that the Respondent has involved the Applicant in a court process because of the way the Applicant spoke to Respondent workers.

5At section 6 of the Application, the Applicant identified that he applied to the CFSRB for the following reasons:

• The Society refused to proceed with [his] complaint; and

• The Society did not follow its complaint review process or timelines.

6Section 56 of Ontario Regulation 156/18 General Matters Under the Authority of the Minister (the “Regulation”) states:

A complaint to a society under subsection 119(1) of the Act must be made in the form entitled “Formal Complaint to a Society’s Internal Complaints Review Panel (ICRP)” and dated 2020/11, available on a website of the Government of Ontario.

7Subsection 119(2) of the Act requires that a complaint to a children’s aid society be made in the format set out in the Regulation. This includes the filing of a specific “Formal Complaint to a Society’s Internal Complaints Review Panel (ICRP)” form. Subsections 120(4)1, 120(4)2, and 120(4)3 of the Act permit the CFSRB to review the way a children’s aid society has dealt with a section 119 complaint only when the complaint is in the required format.

8The Applicant did not file or provide information in his Application to support that he made a complaint to the Respondent in the form required by the Regulation.

9As such, the CFSRB lacks jurisdiction to review whether the Respondent refused to proceed with the Applicant’s complaint and whether the Respondent did not follow its complaint review process or timelines.

10For these reasons, the Application is ineligible for review by the CFSRB.

ORDER

11The Application is dismissed.

CONFIDENTIALITY ORDER

12Pursuant 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.