Quebec dad sued by daughter after grounding loses his appeal
From CBC News
Father's lawyer says they may take case to Canada's Supreme Court
A Quebec father who was taken to court by his 12-year-old daughter after he grounded her in June 2008 has lost his appeal.
Quebec Superior Court rejected the Gatineau father's appeal of a lower court ruling that said his punishment was too severe for the wrongs he said his daughter committed.
The father is "flabbergasted," his lawyer Kim Beaudoin told CBC News.
In its ruling, issued Monday, the province's court of appeal declared the girl was caught up in a "very rare" set of circumstances, and her father didn't have sufficient grounds to contest the court's earlier decision.
The family's legal wrangling started with a dispute over the girl's internet use.
rShe had been living with her father after her parents split up when he grounded her in 2008 for defying his order to stay off the internet. The father caught her chatting on websites he had blocked, and alleged his daughter was posting "inappropriate pictures" of herself online.
Her punishment: she was banned from her Grade 6 graduation trip to Quebec City in June 2008, for which her mother had already granted permission.
The father — who had custody — withheld his written permission for the trip, prompting the school to refuse to let the girl go with her classmates.
That's when the girl asked for help from the lawyer who represented her in her parents' separation, and petitioned the court to intervene in her case.
"Going to court was a last resort," said Lucie Fortin, the legal aid attorney that represented the girl.
"The trip was very important to her."
A lower court ruled in the girl's favour in 2008. She went on the trip, but her father appealed the decision on the principle of the matter.
The legal battle destroyed father-daughter relationship said Kim Beaudoin, the attorney representing the childs father.
"Either way, he doesn't have authority over this child anymore. She sued him because she doesn't respect his rules," Beaudoin said.
"We went from a child who wanted to live with her father, and after all this has been done, they're not speaking anymore. It's very hard to raise a child who is the boss."
Beaudoin believes the ruling reflects a loss of moral authority in Quebec's court system.
"Is this what we want in our society? Laws are supposed to reflect our values. And if the courts aren't reflecting that, maybe the government will intervene, to prevent children from going this way," she said Tuesday, adding her client may take the case to Canada's Supreme Court.
—