Agreed.

Agreed.

Agreed.

Thank you, Madam Chairperson. Madam Chairperson, under clause 66, which is the adoptions under the Predecessor Act, I am wondering, it says under section 66.1 (a), the adoptive person with the consent of the natural parent or the adoptive person about whom the adoptive person is seeking information. If one of the parents is known, but has, for whatever reason, decided to remain anonymous, as on the birth certificate, for example, would that then infringe on that person's right to anonymity.

Could we ask the Member to try and ask the question again? We will pay more attention. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chairperson. Under section 66.1(a), it says the adoptive person with the consent of the natural parent, it does not say natural parents. I wonder if one of the parents chose to remain anonymous, would that take away their anonymity?

Madam Chairperson, sorry for the delay. We are just trying to make sure that we understand the question. What we are trying to do in this act is to create a greater level of transparency for people seeking information. This is why it is so important that the effort we put into it at the time of the adoption to get as much information as possible put on the adoption registry so that the adoptive person, upon reaching the age of majority may have access to it, as long as there is consent to put the information on the registry in the first place. We are still working hard to obtain the consent of people to have information made available at a later date. When we go back to the Predecessor Act, we are trying to make up for some privacy that was put in place, obviously prior to this legislation. There is an effort to use these efforts in a discreet search to obtain the consent to share information. We are not set to release information without using our best efforts to obtain the consent of that person to release information. We are working, obviously, with a lesser package of information because of what was put in place under the Predecessor Act.

Thank you, Madam Chairperson. Maybe I will be just a little bit more clear about my concern here. What it says is that the register may disclose registry information that related to an adoption in accordance with the regulations. I think that is fine. Then it goes on to say that the adoptive person with the consent of the natural parent, it does not say natural parents. My question was, when you have a child you need two parents. What if one parent wanted to remain anonymous? If a relationship breaks down and one parent of an adoptive child does not want to be disclosed, but in this case, the natural parent is allowing it, not natural parents. Is there any reason why you are using the singular form and not the plural form of parent?

Thank you, Madam Chairperson. The draft is written with parent referred to in the singular, and in that style, it means both parents, generally. In the context of this particular provision, the word natural parent is modified by the remainder of the paragraph and it would be the natural parent about whom the person is seeking information. If the person

was seeking information about their mother and if that mother did not consent, then I think the registrar would have a problem disclosing it.

Thank you, Madam Chairperson. In the event that we are not able to conclude Bill 15, Adoption Act, by 6:00 p.m., I would like, at this time, to make a motion. I move that we extend sitting hours to conclude Bill 15.

Agreed.

Agreed.