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The Baars were upfront when they signed on: They don’t celebrate Halloween and, as their glowing SAFE Homestudy Report clearly states, they “do not endorse Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny as they do not wish to lie to children.”

They were approved as foster parents in December 2015 and the sisters moved into their home a week before Christmas.

The Baars bought them gifts and celebrated the holiday — but carefully avoided the Santa question. Their birth mother even sent a note thanking them for giving her girls such a nice Christmas.

“I don’t believe any magic was lost,” countered the Baars’ lawyer Marty Moore.

That wasn’t good enough for the child welfare agency, especially when they asked about their Easter plans and the Baars reiterated their position that they wouldn’t be telling the children about the Easter Bunny either. They would hide chocolate and make it a fun day — but wouldn’t lie and say a giant, floppy eared rabbit was responsible for their Easter eggs.

Their CAS worker was hopping mad by their hearsay, told them it was an essential part of Canadian culture and issued an ultimatum: Tell the girls the Easter Bunny was real or their foster home would be closed.

And so it was. They were abruptly fired as foster parents and the mystified little girls were pulled from their home the next day.

“Was it an emergency?” asked the bemused judge.

Wood sheepishly admitted there was no emergency.

Almost two years have passed and the Baars still wince at the memory of that difficult day.