Thank you very much for this opportunity to speak, Madam Vice-Chair. I am not a regular member of this committee, so this is a timely opportunity for me. The question arose as to whether the committee had the authority to consider this matter. Yet, here we are having this discussion.
I have firsthand experience with this issue. I have a Peruvian-born son is will soon be 30 years old. Thirty years ago, that is over a quarter century ago, Quebec had full jurisdiction with regard to the adoption procedures that we followed. Therefore, it should come as no surprise to you that we favour the status quo. That brings me to the matter of principles.
As many people have realized, international jurisdictions are quite clear. It is the responsibility of the “adoptive” country to verify if the parents are qualified to adopt children. Obviously, in my case, the answer was yes. Peru, not Quebec or Canada, was responsible for verifying that there were no restrictions on adopting the child. In such instances, it is a matter of preventing kidnappings and the kinds of rumours that may have circulated in the past. These countries are free to agree to or to oppose the adoption, to allow or not to allow people to remove children from the country. That is their prerogative. It is important to check everything carefully, because a child cannot be returned. Adopting a child is not a short- or medium-term commitment, but rather a lifelong one. The adopted child does not come with a guarantee and you cannot send a child back to their country of origin, like you would return a parcel through the mail.
Some very simple, basic principles need to be applied here. First of all, it makes no difference whether a child is a biological child or an adopted child. I've never seen any difference between my children. Some are my biological children, while other have been adopted. The adopted child should not be treated any differently. That child knows that he has been adopted, that the size of his hands, the colour of his skin, the shape of his eyes and the colour of his hair are different. He does not need to be made to feel different because of administrative procedures. If the mother of an adopted child receives less in the way of employment insurance benefits than a mother who gives birth to a child, then the adopted child will be made to feel that he is worth less. And the outcome will be same if a mother received specific benefits associated with an adopted child. Adopted children will think that it cost more to meet their needs. Regardless of what you do, the adopted child will always end up feeling as if he his second class. The same is true for the parents. As I see it, from the moment an adoption takes place, the person becomes a parent, end of discussion. There is no worse insult than to say to parents that one of their children is adopted, while the other is their biological child. At least I would consider that to be the worst offensive remark that anyone could make to me.
However, with respect to the tax credit to cover expenses, that is a different story. The expenses associated with a foreign adoption are staggering, whether it be the legal costs, translation costs or some other expense. However, once that child becomes part of the family, he must never be treated differently. Otherwise, the adverse effects on the child are enormous.