Sharon Leitch

The Office of the Children's Lawyer brought a motion to add W.M., a family friend caring for one of the subject children, as a party to the child protection proceedings and for production of the Society's kin assessments of W.M. The Society opposed production on policy grounds and expressed concern about delay if W.M. were added as a party.

The court granted the motion, finding that W.M. had a legal interest in the proceedings and her participation was necessary to advance a plan of care for both children.

The court also ordered the kin assessments to be produced to the court for review, applying the likely relevance threshold and balancing probative value against privacy interests.

The mother brought a motion to extend the time to file a notice of appeal from a final order in a child protection proceeding.

The court first addressed a jurisdictional issue regarding whether an appeal from a final Ontario Court of Justice order lies to the Superior Court of Justice or the Divisional Court following the expansion of the Unified Family Court.

The court concluded that the appeal lies to the Superior Court of Justice and that the judge had jurisdiction to hear the motion.

On the merits, the court denied the motion to extend time, finding that the mother failed to demonstrate a firm intention to appeal within the required time, failed to adequately explain the delay, and that the appeal lacked merit.

The court also found that further delay would be prejudicial to the child's best interests.