Vancouver dad to appeal court ruling his kids can’t take the bus to school alone

A Vancouver man says he will appeal a court judgment barring him from letting his kids take the bus home from school without supervision.

The father took the Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD) to court, after it told him his children couldn’t take transit home alone in 2017 following a complaint.

He argues that’s a violation of his charter rights to raise his children as he sees fit.

“There’s a whole bunch of data out there about how kids are a lot more coddled then they were in our generation growing up, and what that does to their sense of confidence, their ability to navigate independently in the world,” the father told Global News on Monday, after learning about the court’s ruling.

“I wanted my kids to be able to — and I still obviously want this — to be able to navigate the world independently and get the confidence that comes from that.”

The father says he spent two years training the eldest four of his five children, all between the ages of seven and 10 at the time, how to safely take transit home.

The father has split up from the kids’ mother, and the children go to school near his ex’s place. The father provided the kids with a cellphone for communication, which was also equipped with a location tracker.

In the ruling, the court upheld the ministry’s decision, though was clear that the father had gone above and beyond in training his kids and stated that this was not a case of negligence.

It noted that there is no legal minimum age for children to be left unsupervised in B.C., but pointed to Canada Safety Council guidelines which recommend that children under the age of 10 not be left unsupervised.

But the judge also found that the father’s ex and some of the kids were uncomfortable with unsupervised bus rides.

“All four of your older children told the social worker that they get into frequent arguments and fight with one another. Without an adult to intervene, that fighting could escalate and a child could get hurt,” it added.

The court found that while the decision does impinge on the father’s charter rights, it does so in a reasonable way in order to guarantee the safety of the children.

“I think we have a pretty clear case that this was overreach on their part,” said the father, who now plans to take the case to the B.C. Court of Appeal.

“Buses are 24 times safer than any mode of transportation. The most dangerous thing you can do is put your kids in a car and so forth. These are all backed with statistics.”

According to the court’s ruling, the MCFD has consistently maintained that the kids require supervision, and it even checked with lawyers at the Ministry of the Attorney General, determining that “children under 10 years of age could not be unsupervised in or outside the home for any amount of time.”

But on Monday, in a statement to Global News, the ministry appeared open to the father’s position.

“The ministry completely supports building independence in kids — as previously and publicly stated, the ministry would be comfortable with children as young as 10 or even younger riding the bus alone if they are ready and capable of doing so,” reads the statement.

“It’s the role of all parents to support their kids with the guidance, skills and emotional maturity required for a successful adult life.”

It’s unclear when the province’s top court will decide on whether it will hear the father’s appeal of the lower court ruling.