Adoption Disclosure Information Act - 2005

The Adoption Disclosure Information Act (AIDA) - Bill 183, was introduced into the Ontario Legislature on March 29, 2005. The Act was constructed to provide adopted persons and birth parents with a right of access to each others personally identifying information in adoption-related records. Following the bill’s introduction however, there was a fairly significant outcry regarding the controversial issue of the retroactive application of the bill. The Ontario Privacy Commissioner Ann Cavoukian conveyed her concerns about the privacy implications to the Standing Committee on Social Policy. The privacy commission was urging that the bill be amended to give birth parents and the adoptees the right to file a disclosure veto for adoptions that occurred prior to the introduction of the new legislation. The disclosure vetos would allow birth parents and adoptees who did not wish to have their identities revealed to block access to their files. Despite the concerns, the proposed disclosure veto was not adopted by the government and on November 3, 2005, Bill 183 received Royal Assent and became law without the protective veto. The law was to come into effect in 2007. In 2007, four applicants challenged the constitutional validity of AIDA on the basis that it violates section 7 of the charter of Rights and Freedoms. As a result, AIDA was declared unconstitutional. In May 2008, the Ontario legislature passed a new adoption information disclosure law called the Access to Adoption Records Act, 2008. This new law gives adopted adults and birth parents more rights to information and privacy. We will look at this legislation in more detail in our next post.
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