On June 3, 2022 the Supreme Court of Canada issued its decision in B.J.T v. J.D. The decision surrounded a custody dispute between a grandmother and the father of a child. In its decision that the child should remain in the custody of the grandmother, The decision written by Justice Martin included a determination that,
“It is not an error, in my view, for a court to consider a biological tie in itself in evaluating a child’s best interests under this act, even though courts should be reluctant to superimpose the factor onto a statute when a legislature has omitted it, since courts and legislatures have progressively moved away from biological ties. Nevertheless, courts have considerable discretion in identifying and weighing the factors that are relevant in a given case (Van de Perre, at paras. 11‑13, citing Hickey, at paras. 10 and 12). As a result, a court may conclude the evidence supports assigning weight to a biological tie if it can make the link to a child’s best interests. That said, a biological tie in itself should generally carry minimal weight for several reasons.”. The decision is available to read at B.J.T. v. J.D. – SCC Cases (scc-csc.ca)
Although the decision is based on the particular facts of the case, it confirms the Court’s focus on the best interests of the child and not the rights of the parents.
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Posted by Philip Whitehead