Nova Scotia again urged to open adoption records

An advocate for open adoption records is calling on the community services minister to resign, accusing Joanne Bernard of misleading Nova Scotians.

Mike Slayter is an adult adoptee who has spent decades lobbying for open records. He was part of a government committee on opening adoption records back in 1994.

At that time, he says the majority of people who spoke to the group, including birth mothers, supported the move.

But Bernard wants no part of it.

"I have absolutely no intention of opening up the adoption act in this province," she said last week. "For as many people want that act opened there are just as many who say 'No.' 

"We have to maintain that balance and respect the access for information as well as the privacy, as the people were committed years ago that we wouldn't be releasing that information."

Slayter says that's not true.

"The fact she stated that 50 per cent of the stakeholders were not interested in progressing disclosure legislation is absolutely a falsehood," he said.

Information filtered through province

In Nova Scotia, adoption information is filtered through the province. Applying for it can take a long time and there's no guarantee the information will be released.

Elsewhere in Canada, British Columbia was the first province to open its adoption records, followed by Alberta, Ontario, Newfoundland and Labrador and Yukon.

Manitoba is in the process of opening records and New Brunswick is currently considering it.

The legislation generally allows adopted adults to see their original birth certificates with their birth parents' names. It allows birth parents to access their adult child's name after adoption.

The B.C. model allows people involved in adoptions before the legislation to veto disclosure of their information.

Advocates say while they're frustrated by the minister's comments, they'll continue to fight until adoptees in N.S. are given the same rights as non adoptees and those in other provinces.