What is the current state of the law in relation to an initial custody application?

In applying the various authorities referred to above to the present case, I start from the position that this is an initial custody application. While the order of Madam Justice Harris established a custody and parenting regime, it was on an interim basis. Madam Justice Harris herself recognized that the trial judge may come to a different conclusion based on a more fulsome consideration of the evidence. Thus, what is required is a fresh inquiry into the best interests of Connor and how, in the circumstances of this case, those interests can best be protected and promoted (paraphrasing Kent J. in Walker v. Maxwell, 2014 BCSC 2357at para. 61, aff’d 2015 BCCA 282).