Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I guess this is one time I wouldn't have minded, as the chairman of the Standing Committee on Legislation, to have the support of other Members to defeat a bill. But, that was not to be. So, I thought I would just make some comments as an ordinary Member. I asked Mr. Lewis to present the bill because of my own beliefs about why we shouldn't have what is customary to aboriginal people as part of white laws.

One of the things that came out for the justification of the bill was birth rates. If we are going to be adopting custom adoption into white laws for the purposes of birth rates, then we are doing it for the wrong reason, absolutely. I say that because if you have 1,500 births, what does that tell you? If we put this into white law, it would make it lot easier for young people, young aboriginal girls, to get pregnant, knowing full well they are going to be adopted by their sisters or parents.

I've also heard interviews done by Dave Miller on two occasions and I'm sure most Members have heard what has been happening in that area. One of the reasons, I guess, that there is so much talk about custom adoption is because of the child abuse and sexual abuse that is happening. I want to tell you that the interviews basically focused on custom adoption, not white private adoptions. I want to make it clear that the situations that are happening with aboriginal people is no different than in white society right now. I can assure you that aboriginal people who are adopted by white homes go through the same kinds of abuse that they would if they weren't.

Nellie is aware of this too, because I tried to get a young girl from Providence back to Providence from Toronto. I appreciate her help. The Minister's department has even gone so far as to say that if the girl is willing to come back, they will cover the costs. I appreciate that. Mr. Chairman, I think we're adopting this legislation for all the wrong reasons, not for the right reasons. Customary adoption is not something that happens only between two families, it is for the survival of a nation.

The kinds of adoptions that are happening now are because of illegitimate children, children born out of wedlock. In the old traditions, those were circumstances in which custom adoption would take place. In the old days, young girls having children out of wedlock was very rare. Custom adoption also occurred when a member of a family was lost. When older people lose a loved one, they try to replace them so the old people could survive their remaining years in comfort, as opposed to hardship.

It not only happens with regard to a child being adopted, but even senior citizens being adopted to families. So it wasn't restricted to one category or group. Again, the whole purpose of custom adoption was for the survival of a nation.

I see this new act creating more problems for aboriginal people, as opposed to resolving it. We are sending signals to the young girls in our communities that it is okay to get pregnant. We will help you fill out the applications necessary so that the child can get social assistance and all assistance required by law. That is a hell of a message to be sending out. I think for any young aboriginal person who is pregnant out of wedlock, they should go for the private adoption as opposed to custom adoption. I see customary adoption as creating a bad situation for aboriginal people. It was not meant for that purpose.

There was a report done on aboriginal custom adoption. Aboriginal people say they want exclusive rights in that area. If you look at the report, it talks a lot about social workers or those people who assist in the area of caring for people, saying that isn't right and we shouldn't allow that to happen.

For the people who work in the profession, they have a different idea of what custom adoption is and the way it is being used. They have more of an insight on what custom adoption is all about. They certainly recognize that the adoption process for aboriginal people is done for the wrong reasons, as opposed to what it was meant to do. There are many decisions made now in the Supreme Court of Canada with regard to adoptive parents. Do we really need something in legislation when the Supreme Court has already recognized this through the years, to a point where it is protected under section 35 of the Constitution?

What are we doing here? Making it easier for people to do their paperwork. I don't know what else to say. Myself, as a grandparent, I have a young daughter who had two children before she finally settled down. For us to adopt those children for those reasons, it isn't right. I couldn't do it for that reason only. Any parent who has those moral values, wouldn't encourage something like this.

I had asked that we don't support this act, but most of the other Members didn't. So I thought I would just make that point, for the record. I think we are doing this for the wrong reasons. Perhaps in years to come, there will be an increasing number of illegitimate children being born because we made it so easy for them to do it. Thank you.