Canada: Unvaccinated father loses right to see his child
A Canadian father who has not been vaccinated against Covid
has temporarily lost the right to see his 12-year-old child
(
https://bbc.in/3qvV4X8). A judge ruled his visits would not
be in the child's "best interest". It followed a request by the
father to extend his visiting time during the holidays.
The judgement is the first depriving a parent of access rights
on immunisation grounds, a family law expert told Le Devoir
newspaper. The judge's decision, made at the end of last month
in Quebec province, suspends the father's visitation rights until
February, unless he decides to get vaccinated.
The mother, who opposed the father's initial request to extend
his visitation time, told the court she had recently discovered
he was unvaccinated, using his social media posts to show he
was opposed to vaccines. The mother lives with her partner
and two other children who are too young to be vaccinated.
The judge said it was not "in the child's best interest to have
contact with their father" due to the recent increase in Covid
cases in French-speaking Quebec.
Quebec, which has seen the highest number of Covid-related
deaths in Canada, announced earlier this week it would impose
a tax on residents who are not vaccinated against Covid-19.
Although only about 12% of Quebec residents are eligible for
the vaccine and remain unvaccinated, they make up over a
quarter of all hospital cases.
