Law360 Canada ( September 30, 2024, 2:42 PM EDT) -- Appeal by appellant from a decision of the Alberta Court of Justice which granted to respondent guardianship of NK. NK was the biological child of the appellant. She was apprehended from her mother and was in foster care until she was placed with the respondents under a Customary Care Agreement (CCA). The respondents were her maternal uncle and aunt. The CCA was prepared and signed by Dilico Anishinabek Family Care, by the Long Lac # 58 First Nation (the First Nation with which the mother and NK were registered), the Whitefish Bay First Nation (the First Nation to which the appellant was registered), the appellant and NK’s mother. NK has lived with the respondents ever since. The mother suffered from addiction issues and passed away. The respondents filed an application for guardianship. The appellant and his Band opposed the application and sought the return of NK. The trial judge concluded that there was good and sufficient reason to dispense with the necessity of the appellant’s consent to the guardianship and granted the application. The appellant appealed the decision. He argued, among other grounds, that the trial judge erred in law by failing to appropriately apply an act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families (Federal Act) and by applying the incorrect legal test to dispense with the appellant’s consent....