Sarah Megan Elizabeth Edwards

This decision addresses a motion by the paternal grandmother, M.P., to be added as a party to child protection proceedings concerning K.F.-W. The court reviews the statutory and discretionary bases for party status under the Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017 and the Family Law Rules.

The court finds that M.P. does not meet the definition of "parent" under the Act and that adding her as a party is not in the best interests of the child, would unduly complicate and delay the proceedings, and would increase conflict.

The motion is dismissed.

The accused, L.S., brought a pre-trial application for disclosure and production of third-party records from the Hamilton Police Service (HPS) and the Catholic Children’s Aid Society (CCAS) in a sexual assault and sexual interference prosecution.

The application sought HPS occurrence reports, CCAS records related to the current investigation and prior investigations, and exchanges of information between the Crown, HPS, and CCAS.

The court dismissed the request for HPS records, prior CCAS records, and inter-agency exchanges due to insufficient evidentiary basis and lack of likely relevance.

However, the court ordered the CCAS records already in the Crown's possession, related to the current investigation and specifically concerning the complainant's disclosure of a video of the child, to be produced to the court for review under section 278.5 of the Criminal Code, finding them likely relevant to the complainant's credibility and necessary in the interests of justice.