Ontario court sides with child on vaccination stance
Officials with an Ontario law firm are saying that a recent case involving a pre-teen who did not want to be vaccinated against COVID-19 is breaking new legal ground.
The divorced parents of the youth share custody of the girl and could not agree on her vaccination.
Nafisa Nazarali, a senior managing associate lawyer at Russell Alexander Collaborative Family Lawyers, discussed the case with CTV News in a live interview Tuesday night.
"Essentially, this case is really about the concept of a 'mature minor' being empowered to make her own decisions regarding her refusal to take the COVID-19 vaccine," Nazarali said.
"So, in this case, the father, wanted his 12-year-old daughter to get the vaccine and the mother didn't really take a position on it. She didn't want to force her daughter to do something she didn't want to do."
Whether to vaccinate or not has divided much of the country and the family was willing to spend "quite a bit of money to get a decision from a third party arbitrator."
Ultimately, the court ruled the daughter a 'mature minor' and in this case, it was not in her best interest to order her to get the vaccine against her wishes, Nazarali said.
"It is extremely difficult to navigate when parents have joint decision-making power and are unable to come to an agreement on these important issues," she said.
And, the COVID-19 pandemic has presented several issues that separating families have consider: in person versus virtual learning decisions, parenting time and vaccinations.
"I think this decision highlights the importance on focusing on the best interest of the child. In this particular case, the judge ruled that the emotional and psychological effect of forcing this particular child to be vaccinated against her wishes far outweighed the potential benefits of the vaccine," the lawyer said.
Adding, because each family's circumstances are different, judges must balance competing priorities using evidence in each case to determine what is in the best interest for each child.
"What this case does highlight, Tony, is that judges are cognizant of the fact that the science around vaccines is evolving and each case requires that careful analysis," Nazarali said.
"There's really no presumption that it is in the children's best interest to be vaccinated."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
House of Commons Speaker Greg Fergus survives vote calling for his ouster
Greg Fergus survived a vote to oust him as House of Commons Speaker on Tuesday, but with close to half of MPs expressing a loss of confidence in him, he faces a precarious path forward in maintaining order in Parliament.
'It was hell': Israeli mother held hostage with her children describes 51 days in captivity
Hagar Brodutch, her three children and four-year-old neighbour were kidnapped by Hamas-led militants from their home in Kfar Aza, Israel on Oct. 7 and held for 51 days. They were released in November, but Brodutch says her thoughts are never far from those still being held in Gaza.
'Unruly passenger' forces WestJet flight to make emergency landing in B.C.
A WestJet flight heading to Calgary had to make an emergency landing in northern B.C. Monday due to an incident involving an 'unruly passenger,' Mounties say.
P.E.I. kiteboarder 'lucky to be alive' after shark attack in Turks and Caicos
A professional kiteboarder from P.E.I. says he has been seriously injured in a shark attack that occurred while he was snorkelling in the Turks and Caicos Islands last week.
Teen dies after being hit by train in N.W. Calgary
A teenager has died after being hit by a train in northwest Calgary on Tuesday afternoon.
Black bear kebabs make family sick with parasitic worms
It was supposed to be a celebration, but one family’s unique meal of black bear meat sent several members to the hospital instead.
'It's his vacation too': Jimmy the baby goat joins 2-week road trip across Canada
After Jimmy the baby goat was shunned by his mother, a New Brunswick man took the kid on a two-week road trip across Canada.
The double-level airplane seat is back. This time, there’s a first-class version
It’s the airplane seat design that launched a thousand memes and kickstarted a media storm. And now the double-level seat is back – only this time, with a twist.
New COVID-19 subvariants become the dominant strains in Canada
More than four years after COVID-19 effectively shut down the world, two new variants of COVID-19 have become the dominant strains of the novel coronavirus in Canada.