W A R N I N G
THIS IS AN APPEAL UNDER THE
CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES ACT
AND IS SUBJECT TO S. 45 OF THE ACT WHICH PROVIDES:
- (7)The court may make an order,
(a) excluding a particular media representative from all or part of a hearing;
(b) excluding all media representatives from all or a part of a hearing; or
(c) prohibiting the publication of a report of the hearing or a specified part of the hearing,
where the court is of the opinion that the presence of the media representative or representatives or the publication of the report, as the case may be, would cause emotional harm to a child who is a witness at or a participant in the hearing or is the subject of the proceeding.
(8)No person shall publish or make public information that has the effect of identifying a child who is a witness at or a participant in a hearing or the subject of a proceeding, or the child’s parent or foster parent or a member of the child’s family.
(9)The court may make an order prohibiting the publication of information that has the effect of identifying a person charged with an offence under this Part.
CITATION: Children's Aid Society of Toronto v. S.C., 2007 ONCA 474
DATE: 20070627
DOCKET: C44539
COURT OF APPEAL FOR ONTARIO
FELDMAN, GILLESE and MACFARLAND JJ.A.
BETWEEN:
CHILDREN’S AID SOCIETY OF TORONTO
Applicant (Respondent in Appeal)
and
S. C.
Respondent (Appellant in Appeal)
Herbert James Stover for the appellant S. C.
Michelle Cheung for the respondent the Children’s Aid Society
Heard and released orally: June 20, 2007
On appeal from the judgment of Justice Nancy Backhouse of the Superior Court of Justice dated October 27, 2005.
ENDORSEMENT
[1] The appellant mother has based her appeal on fresh evidence of the very significant progress she has made in turning her life around. She has been drug and alcohol free for three years. She has undertaken significant education at which she has excelled and she has involved herself in counselling where she has achieved considerable success. Clearly the appellant is to be commended for taking all of these steps.
[2] The issue for this court is whether in these changed circumstances it is now in the best interests of the child to set aside the trial and appeal decisions granting Crown wardship with no access. We agree with the submissions of the Children’s Aid Society that in spite of the significant progress that the appellant has made, there is no basis to interfere with the conclusion reached by the trial judge and upheld by Justice Backhouse that it is in the best interests of the child who is now three-and-a-half years old, to be made a Crown ward with no access so that her foster parents can adopt her.
[3] Both the trial judge and the appeal judge found that in light of the history of drug addiction of the appellant and, very significantly, the history of violence by the appellant’s partner, Mr. C, against her, that it would be highly risky and dangerous to place a child with the appellant and her partner. It is clear on the record that the Society has advised the appellant since 2003 that she should not pursue a continuing relationship with Mr. C. Because the appellant elected to continue the relationship, the child would be returning to a home with both the appellant and Mr. C and therefore to the very situation that the trial judge and the appeal judge described as highly dangerous.
[4] In spite of the progress made by both the appellant and Mr. C, we are not satisfied that the concerns of the judges below, particularly the trial judge who heard and saw the parties, are no longer relevant. On the other hand, the Children’s Aid Society advises that the child has been in a stable and loving home for three years with foster parents who would like to adopt her. In these circumstances, it is clearly in the best interests of the child that she be made a Crown ward with no access, so that she can be adopted and move forward with her life with the only parents she has known since she was only a few months old.
[5] The appeal is therefore dismissed.
Signed: “K. Feldman J.A.”
“E.E. Gillese J.A.”
“J. MacFarland J.A.”