The Court held that the denial of legal aid to parents whose custody of their child was challenged by the government is a violation of section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Lamer C.J., writing for the majority, rejected arguments that the court should refrain from ruling on this issue because the matter was moot as J.G.

He rejected such arguments by applying the test from Borowski about when a court should decide a moot case.

[1] Chief Justice Lamer, for the majority, held that in these particular circumstances the government has an obligation to provide legal aid.

He did not discount, however, the possibility that cost-reduction could be an objective sufficiently important to deny a fair hearing.