Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Tu Nedhe that Bill 15, Adoption Act be read for the second time.

Mr. Speaker, this bill reforms family law respecting statutory adoption in the Territories by:

- setting out the purposes of the act, the paramount one being to promote the best interests of a child being adopted;

- setting out a test to assist courts in determining the best interests of a child and providing that the determination must be made with a recognition that differing cultural values and practices must be respected;

- allowing a stepparent to adopt a child of his or her spouse without requiring the spouse to adopt the child as well;

- allowing certain couples who are not married to adopt a child together;

- requiring the director of adoptions or an adoption worker to provide certain information to expectant parents, at their request;

- requiring the placement of a child for a private adoption, whether within or outside the territories, to have the approval of the director of adoptions, where the placement is not with a relative of the child;

- setting out how and when a consent to an adoption (by a parent, a child or the director of child and family services) may be revoked;

- allowing the Supreme Court to make an order respecting access to the child when making an adoption order;

- establishing an adoption registry in which the following information will be maintained:

- the name and sex of the adoptive child, the names of the natural, adoptive and any previous adoptive parents of the child and of the siblings and adoptive siblings of the child,

- the records of the director of adoptions in respect of a child who has been adopted,

- the personal information provided by the child, the natural and adoptive parents of the child, the grandparents and the siblings and adoptive siblings of the child;

- allowing an adoption worker to collect personal information from the following persons, which information will be maintained in the adoption registry:

- a natural parent, an adoptive parent and any previous adoptive parent of a child, if the parent consents,

- a grandparent of a child, if the parent and grandparent consent,

- the siblings, adoptive siblings or the adoptive child, if the parent consents (where the sibling or child is under 12-years-old) or if the sibling or adoptive child consents (where the sibling or child is 12-years or older);

- allowing the registrar of the adoption registry to disclose the information contained in the adoption registry and facilitate a reunion between children, parents, grandparents and siblings in the circumstances set out in the bill.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.