SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE - ONTARIO

COURT FILE NO.: 104/15

DATE: 20150731

Parties

RE: A.H., Applicant

AND:

Kawartha Haliburton Children’s Aid Society, Respondent

BEFORE: B. G. MacDougall, J.

COUNSEL:
Applicant; self-represented

Counsel, Réjean Parisé for the Respondent

COST ENDORSEMENT

[1] The Applicant has been the subject of “anonymous complaints” to the Kawartha Haliburton Children’s Aid Society (the CAS) regarding his care of his young children. After investigation by the CAS, it was determined that there was no substance to the “anonymous complaints” and that those complaints appeared to have been made maliciously.

[2] The Applicant, who was self-represented, brought this Application for an order for the disclosure of the name or names of the informant(s) in order to proceed with a contemplated civil lawsuit seeking damages against the informant(s).

[3] The Applicant’s application is commonly called a “Norwich Application”. The Applicant had also brought this same matter before the Child and Family Services Review Board (the CFSRB ) and was under a “confidentiality restriction” as a result of its order. The CFSRB took no position on the Applicant’s “Norwich Application”.

[4] The Applicant was successful in his “Norwich Application” and now seeks costs of the Application in the amount of $21,355.00 against the CFSRB and $21,870.00 against the CAS, plus $500.00 in disbursements.

[5] The CAS submits that there should be no cost order.

[6] Although the CAS was not in a legal position to consent to the Norwich order, because of the provisions of the Child and Family Services Act restricting disclosure of informants, I find that in these circumstances, there was no legitimate basis for the CAS to have taken a strong opposing position in this application. The positions taken by the CAS accordingly necessitated considerable effort by the self-represented Applicant to obtain the order sought.

[7] Therefore, the Applicant should be entitled to receive reasonable costs.

[8] I fix his costs payable by the CAS in the amount of $2,500.00 plus disbursement of $500.00.

[9] There will be no cost award against the CFSRB.

B. G. MacDougall, J.

Date: July 31, 2015