A judge has decided that two kids at the centre of a custody battle between Child and Family Services and a father with white supremacist beliefs will become permanent wards of CFS.
The children were first apprehended by CFS after white supremacist markings were found drawn on the girl's body when she went to school in March 2008.
The father with alleged white supremacist views was petitioning to get custody of his young son and stepdaughter.
The father's application for guardianship was dismissed by the judge, CTV News has learned. None of the parents can be identified to protect the children in the case.
The judge ruled that the case was about the best interests of the young boy and girl, rather than a person's right to freedom of expression.
In the judge's decision, she says that drawing slogans on the daughter does not justify a permanent removal. But during the trial a social worker testified the daughter said black people need to die.
The judge said the children have a right to be protected from the wilful promotion of hatred against specific groups.
The father's lawyer says her client is disappointed with the judge's decision.
The judge also took into account the father's history of violence and issues with drug and alcohol abuse for her decision.
The biological father of the girl in the case says the boy's father had no grounds to pursue custody and no adequate plan to look after the children.
The children's mother says she's glad the kids are not going to her ex. The judge, however, says the woman essentially abandoned her children.
But now the mother has returned to Manitoba and says she wants to eventually regain custody.
Parents can go back a year after a ruling and apply for custody again if they can demonstrate they are a candidate to be a good parent, say officials.
That is what the children's mother says she is going to do. The father of the boy says he'll appeal Thursday's ruling if there are grounds.
- with a report from CTV's Kelly Dehn
