Van de Perre v. Edwards

Kimberly Van de Perre (plaintiff) was a Caucasian Canadian who lived in Vancouver. Theodore Edwards (defendant) was an African American who played basketball for the Vancouver team in the National Basketball Association. Edwards was married with children, and his family resided in North Carolina. Van de Perre and Edwards met in Vancouver and began a relationship, and Van de Perre became pregnant with Edwards’s son, Elijah. Van de Perre sought child support and custody of Elijah in a trial court in British Columbia. At trial, counsel for Van de Perre and Edwards were reluctant to raise the issue of Elijah’s race because counsel considered the topic to be taboo. There was no evidence or argument relating to Elijah’s racial identity, Van de Perre or Edwards’s racial awareness, or race relations in Vancouver or North Carolina. Race was obliquely mentioned in terms of Elijah’s heritage, but neither Van de Perre nor Edwards emphasized the issue. Race was not an enumerated factor in the jurisdiction’s best-interests-of-the-child analysis. The trial court noted that the issue of race was not determinative and that it was important for Elijah to be familiar with his African American and Caucasian Canadian heritage. The trial court held that the overriding factor was that Van de Perre would provide a more stable, loving home. The trial court awarded custody to Van de Perre, with parenting time to Edwards. Edwards appealed to the British Columbia Court of Appeal. The appellate court reversed the trial court, holding that the trial court improperly disregarded the issue of race. Examining all the evidence anew, the appellate court concluded that because Elijah would be viewed as African American, he should be raised by his African American family, and Elijah’s best interests were served in Edwards’s custody. Van de Perre appealed to the Canada Supreme Court.