Madame Justice Lydia Olah - Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Central East)
Comments and Discussion
Background -
October 22, 1999 - Lydia Maria. Olah of North Bay was appointed by Ann McLellan, as a Judge of the Family Court Branch of the Superior Court of Justice in Barrie also serving in Bracebridge. Madam Justice Olah received her LL.B. from Osgoode Hall Law School, and was called to the Ontario Bar in 1979. Prior to her appointment, she was with the firm of Olah & Olah in North Bay (partner David Olah). In 1980, Madam Justice Olah was appointed as a lawyer with the Office of the Children's Lawyer as well as a member of the Child Representation Program. She has served as head of the Family law Section of the Nippissing Law Society since 1991.January 2005
Canada Court Watch along with one independent radio media source attempted to attend a family court hearing at the Newmarket, Ontario court. Justice Olah ordered the two media organizations from the court without providing any reasons. Members of the media were threatened with arrest if they did not leave the court. Parties at the court hearing had requested media to attend. Justice Olah's actions appear to be in violation of the Courts of Justice Act. and in violation of the stated objectives of the Attorney General of Ontario to make the courts more accessible to the media.
June 30, 2005
Canada Court Watch attempted to attend a family court hearing at the Collingwood, Ontario court. Police officers with the Collingwood branch of the OPP blocked doors and threatened members of the media with arrest if any attempts were made to enter the court. Police Officers actually padlocked the court doors with people inside the court and the media locked outside. According to police officers, Justice Olah ordered the doors to her courtroom to be locked in order to keep the media out and to allow only members of the family inside. Members of the family had requested that Court Watch attend and specifically, the 13-year-old girl requested that Archbishop Dorian A. Baxter attend to support her in the court. The teen was denied the opportunity to have Archbishop Baxter provide support for her inside of the court. Locking the media from the court without a court Order was a violation of the Courts of Justice Act and contrary to the stated objectives of the Attorney General of Ontario to make the courts more accessible to the media.
At this hearing, Justice Olah ordered that a father return his 13-year0old daughter back into the care of the CAS where the teenager had reported being abused by CAS. Justice Olah ordered that the father would pay a $1000 per day fine for ever day that his daughter refused to go back into the CAS. Members of the public who were outside outside of the Collingwood court and witnessed O.P.P. officers lock the doors felt that Justice Olah was trying to hold a secret court so that the public would not be able to find out about what she was doing inside the court. Justice Olah's actions sparked a protest on the streets of Collingwood.
June 14, 2006
An article was published in the Canadian Family Forum about Justice Olah and her secret courts.
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