Case information

Charter of Rights — Right to life, liberty and security of person — Status of persons — Child protection proceedings — Non custodial parent — Application for state ordered counsel — Sufficient relationship to child — Whether the Court of Appeal erred in limiting the factors that a judge can consider in deciding whether there is a sufficient relationship, as contemplated in New Brunswick (Minister of Health and Community Services) v. G. (J.), [1999] 3 S.C.R. 46, so as to engage the parent’s s. 7 Charter right to security of the person and grant the remedy of appointing state funded counsel — Whether the Court of Appeal erred in finding that the criteria defining the best interests of the child, particularly domestic violence, were not relevant considerations to a parent’s application for state-funded counsel for representation at a child protection proceeding — What factors a judge can properly consider in applying the remedy provided for in G. (J.).

Case summaries are prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch). Please note that summaries are not provided to the Judges of the Court. They are placed on the Court file and website for information purposes only.

(PUBLICATION BAN IN CASE)

The non custodial parent of a child subject to guardianship proceedings applied for state funded counsel to assist her at the guardianship proceedings. She argued that she had not been able to be actively involved in the child’s life or to engage in regular access, in part, because of the father’s abusive and controlling behaviour.

The application judge granted the mother’s application for state-funded counsel. The Court of Appeal allowed an appeal and set the application judge’s decision aside.