Adoption Disclosure Statute Law Amendment Act, 1998 Churley, Marilyn — Bill 88 (36th Parliament, 2nd Session)

Bill 88, 36-2

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Bill 88, Adoption Disclosure Statute Law Amendment Act, 1998

Churley, Marilyn

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Bill 88 1998

An Act to amend the Vital Statistics Act and the Child and Family Services

Act in respect of Adoption Disclosure

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative

Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

VITAL STATISTICS ACT

Section 28 of the Vital Statistics Act , as amended by

the Statutes of Ontario, 1994,

chapter 27,

section 102, is further amended by

adding the following subsections:

Exception

(6) Despite anything else in this Act, a person whose birth was registered

in Ontario and in respect of whom an adoption order was registered under

subsection (1) or a predecessor of that subsection is entitled, on

application and payment of the prescribed fee, to obtain a copy of the

original birth registration from the Registrar General.

Conditions

(7) Subsection (6) applies only if the person is 18 years of age or older

and produces evidence of identity that is satisfactory to the Registrar

General.

Notice, birth parent's wish not to be contacted

(8) If a birth parent has filed a notice that has become effective under

section 165.1 of the Child and Family Services Act , the Registrar

General shall give the notice, or the information contained in it, to the

adopted person together with the copy of the original birth registration.

Other information

(9) The Registrar General shall also give the adopted person any

information provided by the birth parent under subsection 165.1 (3) of the

Child and Family Services Act and disclosed to the Registrar General

together with the notice; if no such information was disclosed, the Registrar

General shall advise the adopted person of that fact.

Section 29 of the Act is repealed and the following

substituted:

Disclosure to Registrar of Adoption Information

29. The Registrar General may disclose personal

information to the Registrar of Adoption Information for the purposes of

Part

VII of the Child and Family Services Act .

Unsealing file

29.1 The Registrar General may, for the purposes of

subsection 28 (6) and

section 29 and for such administrative purposes as he

or she considers appropriate, unseal any file that was sealed under this Act

or a predecessor of this Act.

3. Clause 60 (

u) of the Act is repealed.

CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES ACT

4. Clauses 163 (2) (

b) and (

c) of the Child and Family

Services Act are repealed and the following substituted:

(

b) ensure that counselling is made available to persons,

(

i) who receive identifying or non-identifying information from the

Registrar,

(ii) who are or may wish to be named in the register,

(iii) who are concerned that they may be affected by the disclosure of

identifying information, including the disclosure of information under

subsection 28 (6) of the Vital Statistics Act , or

(iv) who receive information under subsection 28 (8) of the Vital

Statistics Act\;

(

c) receive and deal with notices and withdrawals of notices filed under

section 165.1.

5. Subsection 165 (2) of the Act is amended by adding the

following clauses:

(

j) the disclosure of information for the purposes of

section 165.1;

(

k) the disclosure of information for the purposes of prosecutions under

section 176.1.

6. The Act is amended by adding the following

section:

No-Contact Notices

Definition

165.1

(1) In this section,

birth parent" means a person whose name appears on an original birth

registration as parent.

Notice, birth parent's wish not to be contacted

(2) A birth parent who wishes not to be contacted by the person named as

his or her child in the original birth registration may file written notice

of the wish with the Registrar.

Other information

(3) The birth parent shall be given an opportunity to provide, together

with the notice,

(

a) a written statement of his or her reasons for not wishing to be

contacted;

(

b) a written statement that briefly summarizes any information he or she

may have about,

(

i) any genetic conditions that he or she has, and any past and present

serious illnesses,

(ii) any genetic conditions and past and present serious illnesses of his

or her own parents, of the other birth parent (or of the other biological

parent, if only one person's name appears on the original birth registration

as parent) and of his or her parents,

(iii) the cause of death and age at death of any of the persons named in

subclause (ii) who are no longer alive, and

(iv) any other health-related matters that may be relevant; and

(

c) a written statement of any other non-identifying information that may

be relevant.

Disclosure to Registrar General

(4) The Registrar shall disclose the notice or the information contained

in it, together with any other information provided by the birth parent, to

the Registrar General under the Vital Statistics Act .

Non-application

(5) Subsections 2 (2) to (4) of the Vital Statistics Act do not

apply to anything disclosed under subsections (3) and (4).

Effective notice

(6) The notice becomes effective for the purposes of subsection 28 (8) of

the Vital Statistics Act when the Registrar General has matched it

with the original birth registration and completed the match.

Ineffective notice

(7) The notice does not become effective if, before the notice is matched

with the original birth registration, the Registrar General has already

issued a copy of the original birth registration under subsection 28 (6) of

the Vital Statistics Act .

Communication re outcome

(8) When a notice becomes effective, or when the Registrar General becomes

aware that it is ineffective, he or she shall advise the Registrar of the

fact.

Withdrawal of notice

(9) A birth parent who files a notice under subsection (2) may withdraw it

at any time, in writing.

Effect of withdrawal

(10) A birth parent who has withdrawn a notice under subsection (9) is not

entitled to file a further notice under subsection (2) in respect of the same

original birth registration.

Privacy

(11) For the purposes of subsection 165 (5), a notice or withdrawal of a

notice under this

section and the information it contains, and all other

information dealt with under this

section or generated in connection with its

administration, constitute information relating to an adoption.

Forms

(12) The Registrar may provide for and require the use of forms under this

section.

7. (1) Subsection 167 (5) of the Act is amended by striking out

"each of them receives counselling" in the sixth and seventh lines and

substituting "counselling has been made available to each of

them".

(2) Subsection 167 (6) of the Act is repealed and the following

substituted:

Registrar to compile relevant material

(6) If both persons give the further consent referred to in subsection

(5), the Registrar shall compile the material described in paragraphs 1 and

1. All relevant identifying information from the records of the Ministry

and of societies and licensees.

2. If the adopted person requests it, copies of the documents referred to

in subsection 162 (2) (court file).

(3) Clause 167 (9) (

a) of the Act is repealed and the following

substituted:

(

a) make the compiled material available to the adopted person or the

other person named in the register, or to both, first ensuring that

counselling has been made available to each person to whom the material is

made available.

(4) Clause 167 (9) (

c) of the Act is amended by striking out "the

person will receive appropriate counselling" at the end and substituting

"appropriate counselling will be made available to the person".

(5) Subsection 167 (11) of the Act is repealed and the following

substituted:

Duty of society

(11) A society that receives compiled material under clause (9) (

b) shall

promptly make it available to the adopted person or the other person named in

the register, or both, as the case may be, first ensuring that counselling

has been made available to each person to whom the material is made

available.

(6) Subsection 167 (13) of the Act is repealed and the following

substituted:

Duty of society

(13) A society shall make counselling available to persons who receive

identifying information from the society, who are named or may wish to be

named in the register or who are concerned that they may be affected by the

disclosure of identifying information.

8. The Act is amended by adding the following

section:

Offence, contacting birth parent despite notice

176.1

(1) No person who has been given information under

subsection 28 (8) of the Vital Statistics Act together with a copy

of his or her original birth registration shall knowingly contact or attempt

to contact the birth parent, directly or indirectly, except under

section 167

or 169.

Same

(2) No person shall knowingly contact or attempt to contact the birth

parent, directly or indirectly, on behalf of another person who is prohibited

from doing so by subsection (1), except under

section 167 or 169.

Same

(3) A person who contravenes subsection (1) or (2) is guilty of an offence

and on conviction is liable to a fine of not more than $5,000.

Commencement

(1) Subject to subsection (2), this Act comes into force on a

day to be named by proclamation of the Lieutenant Governor.

Same

(2) Section 1, subsection 7 (2) and

section 8 come into force on

the first anniversary of the day named by proclamation.

Short title

10. The

short title of this Act is the Adoption Disclosure

Statute Law Amendment Act, 1998.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Bill amends the Vital Statistics Act to give adult adopted

persons an unqualified right of access to their own original birth

registrations.

Related amendments are made to the Child and Family Services Act.

Persons named as birth parents in original birth registrations are entitled

to file with the Registrar of Adoption Information written notices of their

wish not to be contacted. These notices are forwarded to the Registrar

General under the Vital Statistics Act , to be matched with original

birth registrations and communicated to adopted persons who obtain copies of

those registrations. An adopted person who contacts the birth parent despite

having received the no-contact notice is guilty of an offence.

When filing a no-contact notice, a birth parent is given an opportunity to

provide a statement of his or her reasons for not wishing to be contacted, a

statement of medical information and a statement of any other non-identifying

information that may be relevant. These statements are communicated to the

adopted person together with the copy of his or her original birth

registration.

The Bill also amends the Child and Family Services Act to provide

that counselling for adopted persons, birth parents and others who may be

affected by the disclosure of information about the adoption must be made

available but is no longer mandatory.

To allow birth parents time to file no-contact notices if they wish to do

so, the coming into effect of the provision giving adopted persons access to

their own original birth registrations is postponed for one year.

Copyright © 1998

Office of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario

Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Date Bill stage Activity Committee

December 10, 1998

Ordered referred to Standing Committee

Standing Committee on Social Development

December 10, 1998

Discharge the Order of referral to Committee of the Whole House

December 10, 1998

Ordered referred to Committee of the Whole House

December 10, 1998

Second Reading

Carried on division

December 2, 1998

First Reading

Carried

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Document details

Collection	Ontario — Bills
Citation	Bill 88, 36-2
Type	bill
Volume / chapter	p36 s2 bill 88 html
Language	en
Format	html
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	9e792f25fb9863fb8595ae462b8eecd2f94ad67e

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