Patricia Corneil

The respondent parents brought a motion under Rule 20(5) of the Family Law Rules seeking disclosure of the names and addresses of all private investigators hired by the Children's Services society, along with copies of all correspondence, retainer agreements, and exchanges between the society and investigators since November 2012.

The parents alleged they had observed unknown persons conducting surveillance of their home and taking photographs.

The society claimed litigation privilege over the surveillance materials.

The court dismissed the motion, finding that while the society has a broad disclosure obligation under Stinchcombe principles, litigation privilege protects work product prepared in contemplation of litigation, including surveillance conducted for litigation purposes that has not been relied upon as evidence.

A child protection application concerning two children, S. and J., brought by Chatham-Kent Children's Services.

The Society alleged that the children were in need of protection due to physical and emotional abuse, inappropriate discipline, and inadequate care by their mother and stepfather.

The trial addressed grounds for protection, supervision of access, and whether ongoing protection orders were necessary.

The court found that S. was in need of protection and made her a Crown ward with supervised access to her mother.

The court found that J. was in need of protection in 2007-2008 but that no ongoing protection order was warranted, and he remained in his mother's care without supervision.