Haitian Adoption Delays

June 27, 2007

The Right Honourable Stephen Harper, P.C., M.P.
Prime Minister of Canada
Langevin Block
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A2

Dear Prime Minister,

It is with great respect and appreciation for your position that we, the undersigned, collectively write to you for your immediate assistance.

On June 22, 2007 Bill C-14 was passed and received Royal Assent. This Bill, which will allow internationally adopted children to automatically become Canadian Citizens, will save children's lives
in Haiti.

With regards to this very serious situation in Haiti where the adopted children are waiting for Ministry of Interior Exit and Passports:

The Haitian Ministry of Interior, is holding many adoptive children's files and have not been releasing them in a timely manner. Many families have been waiting several months for their children's passports, with no explanation for the delays.

The impact of this delay, is that many Orphanages cannot take in new children, due to the overflow, because the children who have already been adopted cannot leave the orphanages until they have passports. This is putting a critical, financial strain on the orphanage.

Many children are being turned away; children who have no other recourse, and who are at imminent risk due to illness and malnutrition. This situation needs to be resolved so that more children do not die because of lack of food and care which they would receive in these orphanages.
We would like to ask for your assistance in expediting the implementation of Bill C-14, to make it effective immediately. It is imperative to the lives of our Haitian adopted children that they join their families and receive the appropriate care and love, which a family offers.
We would like to suggest a solution to the very long wait times, which families have been experiencing as they require passports for their children. Our suggestion would be to allow all internationally adopted children to travel home under
the adoptive parents Canadian passport, with an accompanying government document, or to issue the child a passport at the Canadian Embassy in Haiti, forthwith.

Also, we respectfully ask for your help in contacting the appropriate government officials in Haiti, so that we may bring these children home quickly to their legal parents!
As Canadians, we have fulfilled every government requirement both in Canada and for the Haitian Government.

Our hope would be to have our adopted children home in Canada, by July 2007. We would be so grateful for any assistance that you can give us in order to solve this issue.

Thank you.