Cases
Children
R. v. L.B. (Ontario Court of Appeal)
R. v. L.B. involves the interpretation of the infanticide provisions of the Criminal Code. The crime of infanticide is one of only two gender-specific crimes in the Code. The offence recognizes the reproductive functions and caregiving roles of women and the unique stressors accompanying those roles. LEAF intervened in the case to ensure that the [...]
Shewchuk v. Ricard (1986)
LEAF argued that provisions in the Child Paternity and Support Act were that only allowed mothers to seek affiliation with their children born out of wedlock and subsequently can only initiate payment orders against the child’s father. Fathers are not entitled to the same provisions, making the Act in violation of Section 15 of the [...]
D.P (1989)
LEAF intervened successfully to oppose the admission of a known and convicted child abuser to the Law Society of Upper Canada. LEAF argued that the integrity central to the law profession requires that lawyers not engage in the breach of trust and exploitation of power characteristics of child sexual abuse and incest.
George Ramdial, Nilufar Ramdial and Lana Salmon v. Metropolitan Toronto Condominium Corporation No. 624 (1990)
In 1988, Lana Salmon was prevented from buying a condominium and moving in with her 13 year-old child. With LEAF’s support, Salmon challenged the condominium’s ability to restrict occupancy to people aged 16 and older. The court found that Salmon was discriminated against, although not based on age, but on family status.
The Queen v. Suzanne Thibaudeau
Suzanne Thibaudeau, a divorced mother of two, went to the Supreme Court of Canada to challenge regulations in the Income Tax Act which required her to pay income tax on her child support payments, although her ex-spouse could deduct the payments from his taxable income. While Thibaudeau was not successful in the Court, the case [...]
Francis v. Canada (Ont.)
This case involved a Grenadian woman who, after being in Canada without immigration status for nine years, was ordered deported. She had two Canadian-born children; her third child, born in Grenada, was ordered deported with her. The Canadian-born children won a stay of the deportation order from an Ontario court on the grounds that the [...]
Auton et al v. British Columbia
The Auton v. British Columbia case involves a challenge to the B.C. Government’s refusal to fund therapeutic health services for children with autism. LEAF intervened in this case in partnership with DAWN (DisAbled Women’s Network Canada) Canada, claiming that the refusal to fund autism services violates the equality rights of children with autism that are [...]
DBS v. SRG
The landmark Supreme Court of Canada case DBS v. SRG concerns the issue of child support and the entitlement of recipient spouses, predominantly mothers, to increased child support following an increase in the income of payer spouses, who are predominantly fathers. The jurisprudence that has developed around retroactive child support has developed inconsistently across the [...]
JG v. Minister of Health and Community Services of New Brunswick
The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that New Brunswick’s failure to provide legal aid in child wardship cases violate the Charter rights of a poor woman. J.G, a New Brunswick woman, appealed a lower court decision that denied her legal aid when a social services agency applied for an extension to temporary wardship of her [...]
K.M v. H.M
KM was prevented from suing her father for sexually assaulting her when she was a child because she missed the legal time limit for bringing a civil action. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that in cases of childhood sexual assault the limitation period should not begin to run until the plaintiff was aware of [...]
