Judge orders MCFD to reveal redacted records in birth alerts case
Ministry must disclose disputed information to privacy commissioner after B.C. Supreme Court justice sides with IndigiNews
Birth Alerts
In the fall of 2020, IndigiNews filed a Freedom of Information request to the B.C. government about ‘birth alerts.’
When a social worker feels an expectant parent may put their newborn at risk, they can issue a “birth alert” or a “hospital alert,” flagging the expectant parent to hospital staff without their consent, and directing them to notify social workers as soon as the baby’s born.
This controversial practice has been stopped in several regions including British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Yukon and the Northwest Territories, but elsewhere in Canada these alerts are still being used.
Our birth alerts investigation reveals that months prior to calling an end to the practice in B.C., the Ministry of Children and Family Development was informed by B.C.’s Attorney General that birth alerts are “illegal and unconstitutional.”
This revelation could have major implications for families who have been impacted by birth alerts across the country.
B.C. government fights to keep birth alerts records from public eye
On June 12 and 13, the B.C. Supreme Court is set to hear a dispute involving MCFD, IndigiNews and the province’s privacy commissioner
Birth alerts follow you ‘for the rest of your life’ says mom whose baby was taken
Eight years after her son was apprehended at a Calgary hospital, this mom says she lives with severe anxiety, nightmares, intense flashbacks and questions about why her family was separated instead of supported.
Breaking: New class action alleges birth alerts are ‘a product of the state’s colonialist and paternalistic attitude’
Filed in B.C.’s Supreme Court, the proposed action marks the first step in a ‘national litigation effort’ representing parents subjected to birth alerts across Canada.
B.C. ‘open’ to apologizing for birth alerts, says First Nations Summit
Province won’t confirm, but says it’s ‘engaging with Indigenous leadership.’
Birth alerts banned in B.C., but trust still a barrier for Indigenous parents
‘Much more money’ needed for preventative services, says Mary Teegee.
