“In cases where a parent blames the child’s lack of co-operation for their own failure to comply with a court order directing that a child spend specific parenting time with the other parent, judges have repeatedly said that it is a parent’s obligation to do what is reasonable and necessary to secure the child’s compliance. A parent has an obligation to actively require the child to comply with the order by exhortation, reward, and even the threat of discipline, much like a parent would if a child was refusing to attend school. Reasoning with the child has been found to be insufficient and is a breach of the access order. There is a positive obligation on a parent to ensure that a child complies with the order. See: Haywood v. Haywood (2010), 94 R.F.L. (6th) 396 (Ont. S.C.J.), Stuyt v. Stuyt (2009), 71 R.F.L. (6th) 441 (Ont. S.C.J.), Geremia v. Harb, 2007 CarswellOnt 446 (Ont. S.C.J.), and Godard v. Godard (2015), 2015 CarswellOnt 11572, 65 R.F.L. (7th) 265 (Ont. C.A.)
The law does not accept that a 13-year-old’s views about access are determinative. It is not acceptable for a party to say that there has been (little or) no access because their 13-year-old child is choosing not to see the other parent. Parents governed by access orders cannot simply leave access up to the children. See: McClintock v. Karam, 2017 ONSC 6633 at paras 38 and 39.
In other words, children have a voice in family court proceedings, but not a veto. Their views and preferences are just one factor considered in the assessment of what parenting plan is ultimately in their best interest. See Section 24 (2) of the Children’s Law Reform Act.”