Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Nahendeh, that Bill 10, An Act to Amend the Adoption Act, be read for the second time.
Mr. Speaker, this bill amends the Adoption Act to:
- • provide for the appointment of a deputy director of adoptions and a deputy registrar of the adoption registry;
- • enable the director of adoptions to withdraw his or her approval of a proposed placement or of an applicant prior to the placement of a child;
- • require adoption workers to endeavour to provide information to a person who places a child for private adoption before the person consents to the adoption;
- • require that the director of adoptions be notified when a child is placed in the permanent custody of the director of child and family services for protection reasons and the plan of care for the child does not preclude placement for adoption so that an adoption worker may explain the adoption registry to relevant persons and take their personal histories;
- • require that copies of court documents, except those ordered sealed by the court, are provided to the director of adoptions and deposited with the adoption registry when an adoption order is made;
- • provide that the registrar may request copies of court documents or information from the court file and deposit them with the adoption registry;
- • provide that the records and microfilm of the records of the Superintendent of Child Welfare must be placed with the adoption registry so that registry information may be complied from the records and disclosed to the natural parent or the adopted person in specified circumstances;
- • include a transitional provision which deems the director to be the Superintendent of Child Welfare and an adoption worker to be a child welfare worker in respect of those adoptions which are governed by the Child Welfare Act;
- • include a transitional provision to enable an adoption worker to explain the adoption registry to relevant persons and to take their personal histories where a permanent custody order has been made under part 1 of the Child and Family Services Act or any predecessor act and the child is placed for adoption under this act; and
- • make minor corrections or clarifications in a number of provisions.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.