December 2009

Unfortunately there has been no public announcement of any change to the Adoption Act. I have been reassured many times that change is coming, and soon, but when? It is very discouraging for adoptees to have some stranger have access to all their personal information, yet they are being denied this information. We certainly do have two-tiered and discriminatory practices within the Family Services. Other provinces have forged ahead and opened their adoption law to make it retroactive to include all persons adopted, not just those who were adopted after March 15, 1999. It has been 10 years since we were first assured changes would be made. What takes so long, or is there no will to make changes? We are told that we must consider those who do not want their files opened, so in the meantime the 95% or more who do want their information are made to wait while the feelings of the minority are being carefully considered. In a democracy the majority is supposed to rule, so why are we allowing the minority to deny us our information. Politicians are elected by majority votes, so why do they not accept the wishes of the majority when making or changing laws.

After holding many public meetings during the fall of 1997, it was concluded that open adoption laws were what people wanted. The new Adoption Act was written with open adoption laws for the future but not the the thousands of adoptees adopted prior to March 1999. It was the minority who opposed openness that ruled the decision.

Hopefully the government will do the right thing, and soon, and put this very important issue to rest by recognizing that adoptees and birthfamily members are not second-class citizens, but deserve equal consideration and given their personal information, information that is readily available to all other citizens, WHO THEY ARE.

Unedited version of CP release June 15, 2009

Manitoba considering opening up all adoption records going back to 1925

By Chinta Puxley

WINNIPEG ‹ Manitoba is considering opening up all adoption records going back to 1925, which some adoptees say would finally put them on par with others in North America, granting them the right to know their mother's name.

Manitoba passed legislation in 1999 that opened up its adoption records to birth parents and adult adoptees, but the access was not retroactive. For the last decade, adoptees and birth parents have lobbied to have the law changed so they have a right to their full medical and family history.

While some adoptees wonder why it's taking the province so long to consider full access, provincial officials say they are learning from others' mistakes and will launch a legislative review before making any changes.

"There is a North American trend to open records," said Janice Knight, Manitoba's manager of adoption and post-adoption programs. "We're moving into a whole different era and generation. People are asking about it and jurisdictions are moving to that. That's what Manitoba will be looking at."

Manitoba, which oversees about 100 adoptions a year, is proceeding gingerly in the wake of Ontario's court battle over similar legislation.

A group of adoptees and birth parents successfully challenged the Ontario law, saying it violated their right to privacy under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms because it did not contain a disclosure veto for those who didn't want to be contacted. The legislation was rewritten to include a veto and came into effect June 1, 2009. At least 2,500 people in Ontario have signed vetoes that keep their identities secret.

If someone in Manitoba was adopted before 1999 wants to find their birth parent, Knight said the province will contact that person on behalf of the adoptee. If they don't want any contact with their biological child, Knight said the province tries to get as much non- identifying information as possible, including medical history. "There are people involved who really believe that they have a right to know, but . . . we also, as a democratic society, have to balance rights," Knight said. "You can't force somebody to release privacy information without having their consent."

But some adoptees say they have the right to know who they are. Roy Kading, now in his seventies, tracked down his birth mother in 1977 without the help of the government. He said adoptees "live a lie" their entire lives without knowing anything about their background, including their mother's name.

"Why should you be the only person in North America who doesn't know your heritage? That doesn't know your birth mother, your birth father, your siblings? Why should we be different?" said Kading, with LINKS Post-Legal Adoption Support Group.

"Just give this block of people the right to have the same information that everybody else has the right to and that every other jurisdiction has given them."

Kading said he hopes the NDP government will eventually open up all records and extend access to the grandchildren of adoptees and birth parents trying to find out more about their family history.

"I hope they also open it up to grandparents," Kading said. "We have a lot of people who are grandparents - their son has died or their daughter has died, they've had a child and they have no rights. They can't do anything."

Manitoba's ombudsman's office and privacy watchdog declined to comment because it wasn't aware the government had a formal position on a further opening up of adoption records.

But Ontario's Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner says it's difficult for governments to retroactively open up adoption records when it promised people anonymity and sealed their records. "It's very difficult to retroactively open them up unless these individuals can be notified," said Michelle Chibba, director of the Ontario privacy commissioner's policy department. "These are extremely sensitive issues for these individuals. They've started a new life. They have been completely anonymous . . . How could you possibly make contact with those individuals to get their consent to open up these records?"

The Canadian Press

What is new in May 2009?

NOTHING, at least nothing has been announced by the government. We keep being assured that change is in the works. The adoption laws of other jurisdictions are being studied to ensure any changes to Manitoba adoption law will be designed for the adoption community of Manitoba. The people studying the laws must think that the adoption community of Manitoba is different from the adoption community of British Columbia, Alberta, Newfoundland & Labrador, Nova Scotia, or Ontario, all of whom have opened their adoption laws to make identifying information available for all adoptees and birthparents, past and future. I do not believe that the people of Manitoba are any different than those of the other provinces.

Why is it taking so long to 'study' these laws? I would think that those involved in Family Services would be well aware and conversant with the adoption laws of other provinces and jurisdictions around the world. The adoption laws, and regulations pertaining to those laws are readily available for study, and in some cases have been for many years. Sounds like a make work project to me. It could be that some of those involved in the 'study' are not fully committed to the task at hand and stalling is a means of voicing their displeasure. Could be some conflict of interest also involved.

I have been told several time during the past 2 years that open adoption records are going to happen, sooner than later. I can only assume no one really knows.