“[the child] R.E. exercised his own autonomy in deciding to live at his father’s home and it may very well be that forcing the Respondent to bring proceedings to change the parenting order may have been a waste of money and judicial resources considering the child’s age of 16 years when he made that choice. As stated by Perkins J. in L.(N.) v. M(R.R.), 2016 ONSC 809 at para. 137:
If it is not already apparent from the preceding pages, I will say so expressly here: I have been struggling with how to balance or reconcile the powers and duties of the court under the Divorce Act to make custody and access orders in the best interests of the children, on the one hand, with, on the other hand, the children’s growing entitlement to personal autonomy and respect of their views and preferences.
The views and preferences of an older child often therefore result in an order that is not necessarily in that child’s best interests. The court must recognize that a 16 year old child has a great deal of autonomy and can make decisions that may not be best for him or her. However, the legislature in this province has confirmed the autonomy of a 16 year old child in legislation affecting children: for example under the Child, Youth and Family Services Act, the court’s ability to make a residential placement or an access order concerning a child over the age of 16 years is quite limited and most often requires the consent of the child.”