August 14, 2019 – Families Moving Forward Program Not “Treatment”

“Dad submits that the Families [Moving Forward] Program is “treatment” which requires the consent of the participants under section 10 of the Health Care Consent Act, 1996, S.O. 1996, c. 2, Schedule A:

No treatment without consent

10 (1) A health practitioner who proposes a treatment for a person shall not administer the treatment, and shall take reasonable steps to ensure that it is not administered, unless,

(a) he or she is of the opinion that the person is capable with respect to the treatment, and the person has given consent; or

(b) he or she is of the opinion that the person is incapable with respect to the treatment, and the person’s substitute decision-maker has given consent on the person’s behalf in accordance with this Act.

Opinion of Board or court governs

(2) If the health practitioner is of the opinion that the person is incapable with respect to the treatment, but the person is found to be capable with respect to the treatment by the Board on an application for review of the health practitioner’s finding, or by a court on an appeal of the Board’s decision, the health practitioner shall not administer the treatment, and shall take reasonable steps to ensure that it is not administered, unless the person has given consent.

There is no evidence that any of the children have refused to participate in the Families Program.  There is no evidence that Dr. Fidler is a “health practitioner” within the meaning the of HCCA.   In any event, I am not satisfied that the Families Program whose purpose is to prevent strained family relationships constitutes “treatment” within the meaning of s. 2 of the HCCA given its focus on treatments that have a “health related purpose”.  Further, given that the Families Program is designed to ameliorate the family relationship and, as such, poses little or no risk of harm to the parties or the children, I find that it would in any event be excluded from the definition of “treatment”.”

E.T. v. L.D.,2017 ONSC 4870 (CanLII) at 50