The respondent father brought a motion to change a 2013 custody order that granted sole custody to the mother with no access to the father.
The father sought alternate weekend access and equal holiday parenting time.
The court applied the two-stage test from Gordon v. Goertz, requiring the father to first establish a material change in circumstances affecting the child's best interests.
Although the father demonstrated positive life changes including stable employment and a committed relationship, the court found no material change in circumstances that was not foreseeable at the time of the original order.
The court was particularly concerned about the father's history of domestic violence, threats against the mother, breach of the restraining order, ongoing conflict in subsequent relationships, lack of insight into his behaviour, and his previous abandonment of supervised access.
The application was dismissed.