Senayit Belay

The applicant father brought a motion seeking to find the respondent mother in contempt of court for failing to comply with multiple court orders requiring her to facilitate the return of their two children from Ethiopia to Ottawa.

The mother had left the children with their maternal grandmother in Ethiopia and returned to Canada alone.

The grandmother subsequently refused to release the children to a court-ordered escort.

The court found that while the mother failed to comply with several provisions of the orders, her disobedience could not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt to be deliberate and wilful in all instances, and the court exercised its discretion to decline making contempt findings at this time.

However, the court issued a new temporary order requiring the mother to travel to Ethiopia at her own expense to retrieve the children and bring them to Ottawa by February 28, 2020, failing which she may be held in contempt.

The applicant father brought a motion for temporary spousal support.

The respondent mother brought a cross-motion for child support, including section 7 expenses for a therapy dog, and sought to impute income to the father for intentional under-employment.

The court dismissed the claim for the therapy dog as a section 7 expense due to a lack of medical evidence.

The court declined to impute income to the father, finding he was not intentionally under-employed.

The court granted the father's motion for temporary spousal support, ordering the mother to pay $1,550 per month based on her higher income and his established need.