“Although the grandmother may bring an application for access, she does not have a legal right of access. To be successful she must show that access is in her granddaughter’s best interests. Further the court will give considerable weight to the wishes of the custodial parent. Chapman v. Chapman, 15 RFL (5th) (Ont. C.A.).
The case law supports that the following must be established: does a positive grandparent grandchild relationship already exist; has the parents’ decision to terminate access imperiled the positive grandparent grandchild relationship and has the parent acted arbitrarily. Giansante v. DiChiara 2005 CanLII 26446 (ON SC), [2005] O.J. No. 3184.
Elements of a positive relationship have been summarized as: a strong loving tie between the child and grandparent; the relationship must be constructive in the sense it is worth preserving but if relationships are too poisoned the relationship may not be capable for preserving: the child’s age and the last time the child saw the grandparents. Torabi v. Patterson, 2016 ONCJ 210.”