Evidence of meeting #40 for Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was adoption.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Bloc
Yves Lessard Bloc Chambly—Borduas, QC
Some parents did not seem to be aware of this. Are there other tax measures that apply to adopted children?
Director General, Legislative Policy Directorate, Legislative Policy and Regulatory Affairs Branch, Canada Revenue Agency
As I said at the beginning of my comments, when a child is adopted, the family is entitled to all the family benefits. We have benefits, credits, deductions. There are a lot in each category. For example, child care expenses are deductible. There are credits for activities for children under 18; there are education credit transfers; there are family benefits for families with children and there are benefits of $100 a month for every child under the age of 6. So there are a lot of deductions, benefits and credits.
Bloc
Yves Lessard Bloc Chambly—Borduas, QC
Thank you.
I have a question for the representative of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada. How does your department get involved with the provinces in adoptions?
Odette Johnston Director, Social Programs Reform Directorate, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
In terms of the Department of Indian Affairs, what we do is provide funding to either first nations agencies or provinces to deliver child welfare services to recipients, to ordinarily residents on reserve.
We don't get involved in adoptions, per se. However, in 2007, as part of our authorities for the program, we revised the terms and conditions to allow for kinship care and post-adoption subsidies and supports. There are, just recently, provisions allowed for support to parents who adopt, for first nations on reserve.
Bloc
Yves Lessard Bloc Chambly—Borduas, QC
I do not know who can answer the next question. With regard to the adoption process, what are we to make of the fact that someone who is adopted—a child born outside the country—does not acquire citizenship like the parent who already has it?
Nicole Girard Director, Legislation and Program Policy, Citizenship and Multiculturalism Branch, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
Good morning. I am Nicole Girard from the Department of Citizenship and Immigration.
If I understand correctly, that question was raised by some witnesses about the potential future transmission of citizenship to children who are adopted abroad.
Director, Legislation and Program Policy, Citizenship and Multiculturalism Branch, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
In fact, the current act gives equal treatment to children born abroad to Canadian parents and children who are adopted abroad by Canadians and acquire citizenship directly. As well, children born in Canada to Canadians and children who are born abroad to Canadian citizens and naturalized are treated equally with regard to transmission of citizenship.
This is as a result of two fairly recent changes to the Citizenship Act. In 2007, Bill C-14 gave parents who adopt children abroad direct access to citizenship. Previously, there was a two-step process. Parents first had to sponsor a child for him to obtain permanent residence in Canada and then apply for citizenship. In response to calls from parents for faster, more direct access to citizenship, the law was changed to allow parents to apply for citizenship directly, without having to go through the permanent residence stage. When the law changed for the second time more recently, on April 17, 2009, the changes imposed a first-generation limit on children born or adopted abroad, once again to minimize the difference in treatment between children born abroad to Canadians and children adopted abroad by Canadians who access citizenship through the direct route.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Candice Bergen
We do have more questions on that. I do too, but I'll wait for the round to be finished and maybe ask some follow-up questions, because we did hear that is quite a problem.
We understand you're saying the laws have been changed, and now if someone adopts a child from abroad that child is able to pass on citizenship. Is that correct?
Director, Legislation and Program Policy, Citizenship and Multiculturalism Branch, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
That's not quite right. What I was explaining was that the law changed, and when the first-generation limit on citizenship by descent was imposed on April 17, 2009, it continued to minimize the difference in treatment between children born abroad to Canadians and children adopted abroad by Canadians who access citizenship through the direct route. Those two groups are treated equally by the law in the sense that they're both impacted by the first-generation limit.
Bloc
Yves Lessard Bloc Chambly—Borduas, QC
So that we understand each other correctly, this is in the case of a biological child.
Director, Legislation and Program Policy, Citizenship and Multiculturalism Branch, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
I am sorry, what is your question?
Bloc
Yves Lessard Bloc Chambly—Borduas, QC
Your answer is open to interpretation. What about a Canadian citizen who brings his own child to Canada from abroad?
Director, Legislation and Program Policy, Citizenship and Multiculturalism Branch, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
If the child is born abroad to a Canadian parent who was born or naturalized in Canada, the child is born Canadian, yes.
Director, Legislation and Program Policy, Citizenship and Multiculturalism Branch, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
It is under the Citizenship Act.
Bloc
Yves Lessard Bloc Chambly—Borduas, QC
I understand, but why? I will let someone else speak. Perhaps we need to think about that and ask ourselves why that is.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Candice Bergen
All right, Mr. Lessard. Thank you. We got that clarification. That is one of the challenges we've heard about, but we'll probably discuss it further along.
Mr. Martin, you have seven minutes.
NDP
Tony Martin NDP Sault Ste. Marie, ON
Thank you very much.
We had a presentation by Cindy Blackstock from the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada. She made a couple of statements that were quite challenging. One is that the number of aboriginal children in care or being adopted is actually more than the number of children who were in residential schools back in the 1960s, which indicates to me that we have a problem.
There are some successful pilot projects going on. One of them spoken about by her is the Yellowhead Tribal Services Agency. She is very excited about that. Apparently it's having a fair degree of success. Is INAC looking at expanding that or having further pilots across the country to see if that is something we might want to make the norm, as opposed to its just being a pilot project?
Director, Social Programs Reform Directorate, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
I would like to first clarify that in terms of the number of aboriginal kids in care, INAC is responsible only for those first nations on reserve. That's about 9,000 children that are in care.
What INAC has started to do, since 2007, is move towards an enhanced prevention-focused approach. We've done so incrementally, starting with Alberta. Then we did Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan, Quebec, P.E.I., and most recently Manitoba. With that focus on prevention, it supports the families to try to keep them together.
As I mentioned earlier, we also, in 2007, amended our terms and conditions to allow for post-adoption subsidies and supports. That is happening, in particular, in Alberta and Nova Scotia. Where we have legislation that supports that, they are being taken advantage of by the agencies to support families.
NDP
Tony Martin NDP Sault Ste. Marie, ON
Are you looking at and assessing the effectiveness of programs such as the Yellowhead Tribal Services Agency program?
Director, Social Programs Reform Directorate, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
We're not examining at this moment specific agencies. We did undergo an evaluation of the Alberta model for prevention. The results of that evaluation have not yet been released. They are expected to be released probably within the month. We didn't go into specific agencies to review. We looked overall at the approach we were utilizing, and we were seeing a decline in the numbers of children brought into care and the numbers of children remaining in families and accessing prevention services.
NDP
Tony Martin NDP Sault Ste. Marie, ON
Thank you.
My next question is with regard to families who came before us who said that there are often significant costs attached to adoption when children present with disabilities of various sorts, including, as we heard earlier, FASD. I'm wondering if these parents would be eligible for the disability tax credit and the child disability benefit if their children presented with, for example, FASD or other disabilities.
Director General, Legislative Policy Directorate, Legislative Policy and Regulatory Affairs Branch, Canada Revenue Agency
As I noted earlier, if the child is in fact disabled, either physically or mentally, for a prolonged period, which is considered a year, then with the medical practitioner's certification they are entitled to all of these benefits.