Court File and Parties

Date: April 15, 2020 Court File No.: 1137-12 Ontario Court of Justice

Applicant: Daniel Ross Respondent: Natisha Belgrove

Before: Justice A.W.J. Sullivan

Endorsement

[1] This endorsement is further to my April 1, 2020 endorsement requesting that Mr. Ross serve Ms. N. Belgrove with his emergency motion dated and filed on April 1, 2020.

[2] Mr. Ross is requesting the immediate resumption of his Access/Parenting time between himself and his son Machias Ross born […] 2011. This is pursuant to a final consent order reached by these parties. I worked with these parents for the past 1.5 years as their case management judge.

[3] Ms. Belgrove was served on April 7, 2020 with this motion and Mr. Ross' affidavit of April 1, 2020 via email. The parties have communicated in this method in the recent past and I am confident that Ms. Belgrove has received these pleadings.

[4] In Mr. Ross' affidavit, he deposes that access was being shared per the parties' final consent order when Ms. Belgrove did not return Machias to Mr. Ross after the March Break. The last time Mr. Ross saw his son was on March 18, 2020.

[5] Mr. Ross claims Ms. Belgrove sent him an e-mail on March 25, 2020 indicating that Machias would not be returning to Mr. Ross until school restarts due to the COVID-19 health crisis.

[6] Mr. Ross provides no other reasons from Ms. Belgrove.

[7] One reason I had wanted Ms. Belgrove served with this motion was to hear from her if there are other specific reasons that might justify her breaching the current final order.

[8] Ms. Belgrove eventually filed at 4:31 p.m. today an affidavit that I reference below.

[9] Mr. Ross states that he is following all the government protocol regarding COVID-19. That is the extent of the details of what he is doing or his living situation. I am not certain if he is working.

[10] His motion is for the resumption of the access he has been exercising pursuant to the parties' latest consent to a final order dated January 6, 2020, which provides in part that:

a) the child Machias (born […] 2011) reside with Mr. Ross. (This is this child's primary residence);

b) Ms. Belgrove has access every other weekend from Friday after school to Monday return to school.

[11] I note that the school was being used by the parents as a neutral pick-up and drop-off with conditions on Ms. Belgrove to assure her son attended school and daycare on time. Also, if the school was closed for any reasons as it is now the parent who exercised access was to pick-up the child from the other's residence. This was mainly Ms. Belgrove picking up her son from Mr. Ross.

[12] I have no reason to believe Mr. Ross has not taken all precautions as requested by the Ontario government to avoid being ill and to self-isolate. He has had the care of his son for years and worked with Peel CAS to assure his son's well-being. This I know as I worked with this family as their case management judge for about 1.5 years before their recent final settlement.

[13] Over the past month there have been many court decisions dealing with access and this COVID-19 health crisis. I bring to the attention of Mr. Ross and Ms. Belgrove a very reasoned and balanced decision of Justice Pazaratz of the Ontario Superior Court in Riberio v. Wright 2020 ONSC 1829.

[14] In this decision the court indicates that the court in Ontario understands the seriousness of this health crisis. Each family's situation must be considered on the evidence. Some might have to adjust and pause access visits due to unique circumstances of each household.

[15] Justice Pazaratz underlined that if a parent had concerns that parent needed to provide specific evidence as to why a parenting regime and order should not be followed. The court stated that although all are worried in this time, there is a presumption that existing parenting orders are to be respected.

[16] So too does this apply in this situation. No specific reasons have been provided by Ms. Belgrove as to why the order of January 6, 2020, should not be respected.

[17] I received at 4:31 p.m. today an affidavit of Ms. Belgrove regarding this motion. I have reviewed this and based on her evidence filed I see no reason why the January 6, 2020 order should not be followed. I will set out below some conditions in my Order in this motion that I expect both parents are to follow to address any concerns that each may have of the other to protect their son during this health crisis.

[18] This court understands how worried members of families are for their loved ones presently. I must assume that loving parents will take the necessary and reasonable precautions asked of us all by the Ontario Ministry of Health to safeguard children and those members of our community that are the most vulnerable at this time as well as each other. Therefore, I am making the following Order to assist the family at this time.

Order

1. Ms. Belgrove shall immediately respect the Final Order in file number 1137-12 of Justice A.W.J. Sullivan dated January 6, 2020. The child Machias Ross shall resume his primary residence living with Mr. Daniel Ross commencing April 16, 2020 with either Mr. Ross picking up his son from Ms. Belgrove or Ms. Belgrove returning Machias by 10:00 a.m. on April 16, 2020 to Mr. Ross.

2. The normal access rotation shall be reset as follows: Ms. Belgrove picking up her son from the home of Mr. Ross on Friday, April 24, 2020 and return him on Monday in the a.m. to Mr. Ross until school resumes, if it does this year.

3. All the other provisions in the January 6, 2020 Final Order remain in place and are to be respected considering the need to make some adjustments given the school closure.

4. Both Mr. Ross and Ms. Belgrove are to adhere to all the health protocols for the general public announced by the Ontario Government during this heightened COVID-19 health crisis, including online education for Machias. They will have Machias maintain all the stay-at-home protocols and not go out in the public except in emergencies/medical reasons, and then if so maintain social distancing as required.

5. If Ms. Belgrove does not respect this Order, Mr. Ross may file a 14B Motion for police enforcement and serve via email on Ms. Belgrove, to be brought to my attention on the same day filed.

April 15, 2020

Justice A.W.J. Sullivan