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Ontario Adoption Reform History 1970’s - Emerging social movements on civil rights
for adopted persons. Voluntary Disclosure Register created in Ontario
in 1978, not perceived to work well. 1978 - Canada’s first passive disclosure registry. Birth parent and adopted adults were permitted to register their willingness to reunite, subject to a veto held by the adoptive parents, regardless of the age of the adoptee. No searches were done and sibling matches were not recognized by the provincial authorities. 1980 - The old “Child Welfare Act” was being revised under Frank Drea. Government attempted to cut off access to “non-identifying” information. Bill 77 (Child and Family Services Act) included more rather that less restrictive regulations, and prevented Children’s Aid Societies from giving out even non-identifying information. 1984 - The adoption community rallied and then P.C. Minister of Community & Social Services, Dr. Robert Elgie, commissioned another study. Dr. Ralph Garber, dean of the faculty of social work at the University of Toronto received a plethora of submissions, overwhelmingly in support of openess. In late 1985 he tabled his report to then Liberal Minister of Community & Social Services, John Sweeney. 1985 - Protest against new restrictions in Ontario; Ministry
of Community and Social Services commissions the report "Disclosure
of Adoption Information" under Special Commissioner Professor Ralph
Garber. Garber concludes that: "facts surrounding a person's adoption
belong to that person regardless where the information is stored;
revealing those facts has not been shown to cause harm; and reunification
of a right to parent a child at a earlier time does not limit reconsidering
a relationship with that child later on." (pp. 26-27) Other countries
begin to restore rights to adoptees and birth parents of access
of information, with public satisfaction. 1986 - The liberal government enacted some of Dr. Garber's
recommendations: adoptive parent veto power was rescinded, “non-identifying”
information was defined and access codified, siblings were recognized,
and the provincial registrar was empowered to conduct searches for
a birth relative on behalf of adopted persons. Unfortunately, the
government of that day also saw fit to include mandatory counselling
provisions around reunion in the new law. 1992-1993 - Closed, limited Ministry consultations with
selected adoption clients, social workers; principles of the Garber
Report are not discussed. Ontario's Adoption Disclosure Bill (158) suffered a fatal setback as it was brought to third reading on Dec. 8th. Six M.P.P.’s managed to filibuster, or delay reading, of the Bill so that it could not be brought to a vote on this last day of the fall session. The adoption reform effort has suffered acts of political sabotage in the past, but this instance of it has been particularly galling because it involved such a small number of opponents, and because Bill 158 had such general support in all three parties. Specifically, it had the unanimous support of the Standing Committee on Social Development, which carefully vetted the Bill before recommending it for third and final reading. Had Bill 158 come to a vote it undoubtlty would have passed and Ontario, like B.C. would have given adoptees and their families access to their birth certificates. 1998 - Bill 88 was introduced in the ontario Legislature
on December 2, 1998 by Marilyn Churley. This bill is essentially
the same as Bill #158. Ammendments recommended by the Last Standing
Comittee in 1994 have been included in this new bill. Over the past 20 years progress has been made. For many of us there have been times that were discouraging and painfully slow. Would we have fared better had we given the Legislature an ‘all or nothing’ ultimatum? Adoptees born after 1970 do not have birth surnames on their adoption orders. Their searches are as difficult as those of birth families. Bill 88 would give them their original birth certificates. Even adoptees who have been reunited with all members of their birth families still do not have access to original birth certificates. Birth certificates give the mother’s name and location at time of the birth. With this info many searches could be completed. Bill 88 may not be all that we want. As of June 1998, 34,293 adoptees are langishing on the ADR registry, with years to go. As I have said, many only have a serial number where the birth surname should be. Parent Finders and Canadopt will continue to fight for the members of the triad. Shall we deny adoptees the right to their original birth certificates because Bill 88 does not address all the issues? I don’t think so. I do not like no contact clauses. BC presently has a no contact clause and Parent Finders is lobbying to do away with it. But I still see BC as being way ahead of Ontario in adoption reform. If we get original birth certificates for all adoptees we can go on to deal with other issues.
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