Lawsuit: British Columbia Coerced Adoptions

“The British Columbia government was on Friday hit with a class-action lawsuit accusing the province of abduction, fraud, and coercion in connection with adoptions among unmarried women from the 1940s until the early 1990s.

The lead plaintiff is today a fourth-year psychology student named Cassandra Armishaw, who became pregnant at age 17 in 1985 after being sexually assaulted in Penticton, B.C, according to the statement of claim. When she was in labour at Vancouver’s Grace Hospital, she alleges a social worker entered the room and said “when you’re done here I’m taking that baby,” the claim says.

“She was still delivering the baby, and tried not to push,” it says.

Ms. Armishaw alleges she was not immediately allowed to see, hold, or touch her baby girl.

“The lawsuit is the first in an expected series of similar class-actions planned against all the provinces Quebec westward, as well as in New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador. Tony Merchant, the prominent Saskatchewan lawyer heading the actions, said he expects to file in Ontario and Quebec next week.

A spokesperson for the B.C. Ministry of Children and Family Development said it would be inappropriate to comment now that a suit has been filed.

Earlier this week, Brian Cotton said the government is “not aware of any official policy that would have forced unwed mothers to give up their children for adoption in British Columbia.”

None of the claims have been proven in court.

Since the National Post launched an investigation into coerced adoptions last weekend, dozens of mothers have emerged to say they were coerced or forced by social workers, medical staff, and churches into giving their child up for adoption because they were unmarried. Three former social workers, two in Alberta and one who worked in Manitoba, have come forward to corroborate some of the claims put forward by the mothers.

The Salvation Army and the United Church have said they are reviewing their maternity homes’ practices, and the Ontario NDP has urged the Dalton McGuinty government to “give serious consideration” to calls for a provincial inquiry.”

“Mr. Merchant, who said upward of 200 women have so far signaled interest in class-actions across the country, said the suits will attempt to saddle the provinces with responsibility for the wrongdoings of church-run organizations because they were provincially funded agents. He said he hopes the case will be certified by a judge within six months, allowing the case to proceed.”

B.C. government hit with class-action lawsuit over coerced adoption claims
[National Post 3/16/12 by Kathryn Blaze Carlson]

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