Canada Open Records/Bastard Nation
Action Alert
November 22, 2019
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Prince Edward Island Adoptees need your help today!
Assembly Bill 29: contains vetos and criminalizes contact
Final vote could be this coming week
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In the name of “adoption reform,” the Prince Edward Island Assembly is attempting to sneak a bill through that will continue to abrogate the right of the province’s adoptees to access their Original Birth Certificate, without restriction or conditions. Assembly Bill No. 29 was introduced and received the first reading on November 20 and received a second reading the following day. A final vote can take place as early as this coming Tuesday, November 26.
The bill contains the following provisions
- disclosure veto
- criminally enforceable contact veto with a threat of a $5,000 fine and 1-year jail term
- prohibits adoptees from publishing any identifying information about the person who provided the content preference.
To add insult to insult, the law will not allow the release of the original birth certificate but sends “prescribed information” from the birth record to the PEI adoption boss and then the adoption boss controls the release of that “prescribed information” if there are no objections.
Bill No. 29 is toxic and dangerous, If passed, it will keep PEI in the Adoption Dark ages and can hurt legislation in Canada and the US.
The bill is opposed by Canada Open Records, Bastard Nation, and adoptees through out PEI and Canada. Below is the Action Alert and, contact information published yesterday by COR as well as more information about the bill.
Also see
- Meanwhile, a Few Canadians Didn’t Get the Memo Gregory Luce, Adoptee Rights Law Center. November 21. 2019
- Prince Edward Island: New bill contains vetoes and criminalizes contact, Daily Bastardette, November 21, 2019
Canada Open Records Action Alert
Here are a few points that you can use. No need to use all. A couple of paragraphs, succinct and to the point will do!
Last year at community town halls, adopted people from PEI overwhelmingly expressed they want clean legislation without any vetoes or suppressive contact preference. The Bill as presented in the house ignores our wishes, ignores international law and establishes a system where adopted citizens have less rights than non adopted citizens
Adopted people deserve the right to be treated with the same respect given to the non-adopted. We are your friends, your family, your coworkers. We are taxpaying adults who demand we be accorded the same right as the non adopted to access our original birth records.
The bill as it stands, suppresses our right to access our own records and through the “undertaking” effectively tramples the right to Freedom of Expression under Section 2, Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Adopted people demand the same right as non-adopted to access our original birth records. It’s not about the right to reunion, it’s about the right to access a simple piece of paper that only belongs to one person. If adopted persons are restricted the right to their original birth certificate, the same principle should be enforced for the non adopted. EVERYONE should be able to access their birth records or NO ONE should be able to access their birth records. To do otherwise is discriminatory.
DNA testing has rendered the myth of birth parent privacy as irrelevant. A simple DNA test identifies and confirms family. If an adopted person tests, other DNA matches confirms both maternal and paternal family members. Within hours, an adoptee or birth parent can find each other without documentation or the assistance of an adoption agency. A birth parent or adoptee can be connected through DNA matching through another relative without even testing.
Example- if a biological sibling and descendant of an adopted person tests at Ancestry DNA, both people will match as related even though a birthparent or adopted person did NOT test.
In Canada, we introduce legislation that is just, lawful and relevant. It can’t be said that Bill 29 meets any of these qualities.
The right to know your identity is enshrined in the UN 1989 Rights of the Child treaty of which Canada is a signatory. Under international law, a child’s identity cannot be suppressed or erased. This new law is in contravention of international law.
PEI birth parent privacy myth has already been challenged. In court, it was stated PEI didn’t prevent disclosure in its legislation until 1969.Through previous case law it was established that no birth parent privacy was ever promised. If no reference or promise of privacy was never offered, why is your government using it to justify a suppressive law?
Bill 29 as written is in contravention of international law, is discriminatory and irrelevant. The bill is based on adoption disclosure legislation introduced by other provinces from over a decade ago.
The government was challenged at the time but they did not pursue an appeal. Ten years later, the original template law is as irrelevant as the bill your government has introduced. DNA technology has made any veto irrelevant and unenforceable.
PEI can do better.
In many European countries, including England, adoption disclosure has never been closed. Fair and equal adoption disclosure is legislated in ten states, now including New York.
It’s a simple process without any need for opt-in permission, contact preference or special restraining order…
Upon achieving the age of 18 and proof of identity, a person can apply for their original birth certificate, just like every non adopted citizen. It’s that simple. The services are provided through Vital Stats. No other agencies are required to redact records or provide any other records or intermediary services.
Reducing onerous legislation and bureaucratic oversight will not only provide fair and equal rights but will save taxpayers millions.
The bill only serves one group, the government agency who will act as Registrar.
Other provinces who introduced similar restrictive legislation now face an inability to process the information in a timely manner. It may be presented as a disclosure law but in reality the restrictive legislation creates delay and slows disclosure to a standstill.
Unlike many other pieces of legislation, this bill is being pushed with undue haste without any regard for the rule of law or public discourse. Please support the right for fair and equal access to our original birth records.
Please vote NO on Bill 29
pdaltassMLA@assembly.pe.ca,
jsjaylwardmla@assembly.pe.ca,
mlbeatonMLA@assembly.pe.ca,
hebellmla@assembly.pe.ca,
kmbernardMLA@assembly.pe.ca,
psbevanbakermla@assembly.pe.ca,
dcomptonmla@assembly.pe.ca,
cfdeaglemla@assembly.pe.ca,
jdfoxmla@assembly.pe.ca,
sjgallantMLA@assembly.pe.ca,
ohammarlundMLA@assembly.pe.ca,
rlhendersonMLA@assembly.pe.ca,
sphowardMLA@assembly.pe.ca
ehhudsonMLA@assembly.pe.ca,
ngjamesonmla@assembly.pe.ca,
dmkingMLA@assembly.pe.ca,
crlavieMLA@assembly.pe.ca,
lglundMLA@assembly.pe.ca,
hmacdonaldMLA@assembly.pe.ca,
mmackaymla@assembly.pe.ca,
smacewenmla@assembly.pe.ca
gamcneillyMLA@assembly.pe.ca,
samyers@assembly.pe.ca,
rjmitchellMLA@assembly.pe.ca,
jhperrymla@assembly.pe.ca,
bgthompsonmla@assembly.pe.ca,
bgtriversmla@assembly.pe.ca
New York Adoptee Rights Coalition
