This case deals with the question of whether the Ontario Court of Justice and the Superior Court of Justice can make parenting orders when the child belongs to a First Nation that has its own rules for handling family law issues.
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In the early fall, there was a flurry of cases relating to whether children should go back to in-school learning or continue with online learning, some of which you can find summarized in our Case Law section.
The upcoming winter school break, coupled with COVID-19 cases rising at an alarming rate in many Ontario communities,
The following is a list of factors judges have considered in a number of recent Ontario family court decisions that dealt with cases whether or not children should attend school in-person.
Please remember that family court decisions are based on the individual facts of a family’s situation. You cannot assume that these factors will determine the outcome of a case with which you are involved.
A.B. v L.J. 2020 ONSC 5248: In this case, the parents have joint custody of their two young children. The children are primarily resident with the mother, who has final decision-making authority. The mother and children had been living in Port Perry and the father in Burlington, where the children spent time with him on alternate weekends.
The case of Chase v Chase, 2020 ONSC 5083, provides a decision that offers clear thinking about what should happen when separated parents disagree on whether children should return to in-class learning this fall.
Pursuant to a separation agreement signed by the parents in 2017, the child spends equal time with each parent on a 2/2/5/5 schedule and the parents share responsibility for decision-making.
COVID-19 vaccination
In Tarkowski v Lemieux 2020 CarswellOnt 8070 (C.J.), Justice Jones dealt with the issue of how the parents would make decisions about having their child vaccinated, when and if a COVID-19 vaccine becomes available.
The six-year-old daughter had lived primarily with the mother since the parents separated in 2015.
Robinson v Darrah 2020 O.J. No. 2016, Ontario Superior Court of Justice: The father brought a motion to have his access to the child resumed and for police assistance in ensuring compliance. The child has lived with the mother since the parties separated in mid 2015, when the child was a few months old.
Removing a child from Ontario during pandemic
Gillespie v Jones, 2020 CarswellOnt 5720 (S.C.J.): The child and mother live in Ontario, pursuant to a 2017 order from a British Columbia court, where they had been living following the parents’ separation. The father remained in B.C. and was scheduled to spend a week with the child in April.
More guidelines from Justice Pazaratz
Justice Pazaratz sits as the triage judge in the Superior Court of Justice in Hamilton. He has seen a significant number of cases during the pandemic and has had to make decisions about whether or not those cases meet the standard of urgent as set by Chief Justice Morawetz in mid-March.
COVID-19 decision: Minimizing the backlog
J.T.K. v. A.E.M. 2020 CarswellOnt 6682 (C.J.): After weeks of being told that the courts can only deal with the most urgent of situations, that parents are expected to work out their differences on their own and that parties are expected, most of the time,
