Open Records Legislation Pending

TORONTO, March 31, 2005 – The Province of Ontario has introduced legislation to open sealed adoption records. The proposed legislation repeals the regime in place since 1927 that permits the sealing of original birth records, the changing of names and the forging of new birth records to show adopters as the biological parents of an adopted child.

The Adoption Information Disclosure Act, 2005 amends the provisions of Ontario’s Child and Family Services Act and the Vital Statistics Act that were challenged by Donna Marie Marchand in an application brought by Swadron and Associates in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice last year. The application, based on the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is scheduled to be heard in early February 2006.

Please click here to read more about the open records challenge brought by Ms. Marchand. To read the government's press release, including a frequently asked questions section respecting the new bill, please click here.