“Custody and access orders remain in effect pending an appeal to this court unless the court has ordered otherwise. In determining whether to stay an order involving the parenting of a child, the courts must consider: (1) whether, on a preliminary assessment, the appeal raises a serious question (recognizing that this is a low threshold); whether the child will suffer irreparable harm if a stay is refused; and (3) the balance of convenience: namely whether there would be greater harm from the granting or refusal of a stay pending a decision on the merits of the appeal. The overriding consideration, again, is the best interests of the child. In other words, the court must be satisfied that it is in the child’s best interests to grant a stay: K.K. v. M.M., 2021 ONCA 407, at para. 17 and Lefebvre v. Lefebvre, 2002 CanLII 17966 (ON CA), 167 O.A.C. 85 (C.A.), at para. 6.
The standard for appellate review of a custody or parenting decision is exacting: Bors v. Bors, 2021 ONCA 513, at paras. 18-20. The function of this court is not to retry the case on appeal. Intervention is warranted only if there is a material error, a serious misapprehension of the evidence, or an error of law. The mother contends that there are a number of errors in the trial judge’s decision, and accordingly that the appeal raises a serious issue. Among other arguments, she asserts that the trial judge erred in the scope and application of the expert evidence of the joint participant expert, Dr. Fidler.”