The Indigenous brothers were moved from Ottawa to live with Cooney and Hamber in Burlington in 2017 but remained wards of the Ottawa CAS. Halton CAS was in charge of supervising the family on a daily basis, and did so until the older brother died and the younger brother was removed from the couple's care in December 2022. The Halton Children's Aid Society said in a statement it is 'committed to learning everything' it can from this case. Advocate highlights 'really bad decisions'The Halton CAS had received many reports from people concerned about how Hamber and Cooney were treating the boys. The Ottawa CAS said it acknowledges the need for "better collaboration" and "co-ordination" between service providers, including other CAS agencies that are supervising adoption processes, schools and hospitals.

Source: CBC News January 12, 2026 10:31 UTC