Unvaccinated father stripped of visiting rights by judge

A Canadian judge has temporarily stripped a father of his visitation rights, arguing it is not in the best interest of the child as the parent does not have a Covid-19 vaccination.

Quebec Superior Court Justice Jean-Sebastien Vaillancourt took note of numerous social media posts critical of the vaccine, saying this cast doubt on whether the father is actually following the health guidelines in place.

Vaillaincourt wrote in his decision that the lack of visitation is only temporary and in response to rising Covid cases due to the Omicron variant. The 12-year-old child lives with two half siblings who are too young to receive vaccination doses. 

While it would “normally” be in the best interest of the child to see his father, the judge ruled, it is “not in his best interest to have contact with him if he is not vaccinated and is opposed to health measures in the current epidemiological context.”

The visitation rights have been suspended until February unless the father chooses to get vaccinated. The ruling came in response to the parent filing in mid-December for more visitation during the holiday season. However, the father then faced accusations of being an anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist when it was discovered that he was not inoculated against Covid, with the mother filing concerns with the court. 

While the father has said in court that he has “reservations” about the vaccine, the child has reportedly received two doses of a vaccine, though the judge claimed this does not provide enough protection against the virus. In his ruling, he said the protection is essentially null and void due to Omicron being so highly contagious.

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