Poroshad Mahdi

On a family law motion, the court found that the respondent deliberately accessed the applicant's personal email account and obtained communications protected by solicitor-client privilege, including an email from counsel and legal accounts describing services rendered.

Applying settled privilege principles, the court held the communications were confidential legal advice and remained privileged despite containing some factual content.

Because the breach was deliberate and the respondent was found untruthful, the court imposed significant procedural sanctions, required an affidavit disclosing all intercepted communications and their dissemination, ordered an undertaking against future interception or recording, prohibited retention of former counsel in related proceedings, and awarded full indemnity costs.

The court also removed privileged complaint materials from the court record and struck portions of the respondent's affidavit referring to case conference discussions.

Father sought to change a 2002 custody order and obtain original orders regarding two younger children.

The mother opposed the application.

The court found a material change in circumstances affecting the best interests of the two older children, who had moved in with the father and expressed a clear preference to remain with him.

The court awarded sole custody of all four children to the father, finding the mother lacked credibility, had demonstrated poor judgment, financial mismanagement, and inability to meet the children's educational and special needs.

The mother was granted generous access to the two younger children on alternate weekends through a supervised access centre, with specific holiday provisions.

The court declined to order child support, finding it fundamentally unjust to raise this issue in closing submissions after the mother had relied on the father's earlier representation that he would not pursue it.