September 22, 2023

It does not require the Director to rationalize the request to the information-holder, or to ensure that the request is objectively reasonable with reference to a particular evidentiary threshold. [...] This is an appropriate scope for the power in our view, as the initial determination of whether the child is in need of protection is the chief situation in which a child’s safety could be compromised by the disclosure that the Ministry seeks information about the family or a parent. [...] Once a child’s need for protection has been investigated and the child has either been removed or the Ministry has determined that no removal is necessary, there is no longer a risk that disclosing the fact of the search to the parent would undermine the goal of child protection. [...] 54F The Court offered further guidance that a reasonableness requirement within the statutory text would be warranted and would mitigate the constitutional harm.65F It is our opinion that a reasonableness standard is constitutionally required to justify the state intrusion into the privacy of a parent in a child protection context. [...] Accordingly, the BCCLA urges the province to include such a reasonableness requirement in the new provision, and suggests that it would be appropriate to require reasonable grounds to believe that the information is necessary to determine whether a child needs protection.