“The only past conduct that is relevant to the determination of a parenting order is the part’s conduct which is “relevant to the exercise of their parenting time, decision-making responsibility or contact with the child under a contact order”: s. 16(5). Courts allocating parenting time are required to adhere to the principle that “a child should have as much time with each spouse as is consistent with the best interests of the child”: s. 16(6), Knapp v. Knapp, 2021 ONCA 305, at para. 34.
Neither parent has the right to create a unilateral parenting status quo, even if there is an alleged safety issue. As Charney J. wrote in Gray v. Canonico, 2020 ONSC 5885:
49 The cases are abundantly clear, however, that, contrary to the assertion of the respondent, the status quo cannot be established or altered by the unilateral “self-help” conduct of one parent. A parent cannot be permitted to gain a litigation advantage by unilateral action: See Rifai v. Green, 2014 ONSC 1377, at para. 25:
The starting point, of course, is that at the outset both parents are presumed to have equal status, equal rights, and equal authority over decisions in a child’s life. In the absence of a formal agreement or court order, neither parent has the right to unilaterally impose major changes in a child’s life. Neither parent has the right to unilaterally interfere with or impede the other parent’s contact or role in the child’s life.
50 Even if there is an alleged safety issue, a parent taking steps to ostensibly protect the child must still come to the court at the earliest opportunity on an urgent basis: Skitch v. Hiscock, 2018 ONSC 5581, at para. 15.”