“Ms. Nazerali made submissions and offered the recent decision of V.R. v. Catholic Children’s Aid Society of Toronto, 2020 ONSC 3508, at paras. 126 and 129, as having many similar facts to the one before the court. This decision of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice affirmed the trial judge’s decision stating clearly that “the unexplained injury principle is a recognized principle in child protection matters” (V.R., at para. 124). At para. 126, Horkins J. used the description of the principle from Prince Edward Island (Director of Child Welfare) v. H.(A.), 2009 PECA 19:
In child protection case law, there is something called “the unexplained injury principle” and that is injuries suffered by an infant which are of a serious nature and which remain unexplained are in and of themselves grounds for removal of the child and for the continuation of that removal. Where there is no evidence of intervention by a third party, a failure to explain the cause of the child’s serious injury has been held to constitute grounds for finding a child in need of protection and for a refusal to return the child to previous caregivers.”
Simcoe Muskoka Child, Youth and Family Services v. S.M. et al., 2021 ONSC 5433 (CanLII) at 39