Canadians wait for word on adoption of Haitian orphans
Canadians wait for word on adoption of Haitian orphans
Mary Ormsby
Kenneth Kidd Feature Writers
Published On Tue Jan 19 2010
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Robin Bauer, right, wife Kari and daughter Kaiya, 5, are anxiously awaiting information on a girl they are in the process of adopting from Haiti. (Jan. 18, 2010)
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Lindsay Van Genne treasures all of her 17-month-old son's firsts: A shy smile, a new tooth, his halting baby steps.
But what she most wants is that first kiss and hug from the Haitian boy she's been working to adopt for more than a year.
And that's tied up in bureaucratic red tape as the Canadian government grapples with how to expedite adoptions after Haiti's devastating earthquake last week.
It's a predicament shared by dozens of other Canadians who were already in the process of adopting Haitian orphans when disaster struck Port-au-Prince.
Van Genne, a 30-year-old from Grand Prairie, Alta., has only seen her son, Corbin Adam, in monthly photographs. She said WestJet has offered to send a plane to the destroyed island nation immediately to retrieve orphaned children – as soon as Canada asks Haitian President René Préval to approve all legal pending adoptions.
On Monday, The Netherlands, sought and received that approval and began a sweeping airlift of children to their Dutch families.
The U.S. government also announced Monday it will temporarily allow Haitian orphans into the United States to receive care.
"There's no communication on what (the Canadian government) is doing and we need everyone to know that they have to save these children's lives," said Van Genne, one of roughly 100 Canadian families trying to adopt Haitian children. She fears her son's orphanage in Mirebalais, near Port-au-Prince, will be overrun by looters desperate for water and food.
"What's not happening is our children are not leaving Haiti. (Immigration Minister Jason) Kenney said he was going to expedite adoptions (but) he is not being clear about what that truly means."
A statement Monday from the immigration department said adoptive children and unsupervised dependants of Canadians are "being given priority processing." But the government could offer no estimate as to how long this might take.
It also asked parents who have begun the adoption process to contact the department with details of their cases.
On Saturday, Kenney said Canada would expedite applications for adopting children in Haiti. But it appears to apply only to 20 cases that have been legally completed.
The other 80 or so cases are very close to completion, including that of Corbin Adam, whom Van Genne expected would have arrived in Canada within two months had the earthquake not occurred.
NDP immigration critic Olivia Chow wants Kenney to issue emergency visas for the remaining 80 children destined for Canadian homes. "If the Netherlands have done that, we can't we do that?" Chow asked. "If it's just paperwork, for goodness sake, just get it done."
Adyne Bell, of Grande Prairie, Alta., was lucky enough to get news last Tuesday night that the two girls she and husband Chris are in the process of adopting are safe.
"We'd really like to get them home," she said of Leina, 3, and Rodnerline, who just recently had her first birthday.
Bell said it was wrenching to watch television reports about other orphans being quickly removed from Haiti to their adoptive families in countries other than Canada.
"It's hard to be patient. We keep praying and, hopefully, we'll be able to get some information soon,"
The normal procedure is for orphans to be issued a Haitian passport and a visa to come to Canada. Adoptive parents then apply to get their child Canadian citizenship.
But even with a passport and visa already approved, Dolores Nickel says she's still not getting any answers on when her adopted son Tony, 3, will be able to leave Haiti for Canada. "Our son Tony is already legally ours," Nickel said last night from Port Alberni, B.C.
She's phoned and emailed sundry politicians and government agencies.
"They can't give us any information," she said.
Robin Bauer, who with wife Kari is in the process of adopting Betchilove, a 3 1/2-year-old, said he's "pleading with our government to get these kids out of there" on a rescue.
Bauer, who lives in Calgary, said he went to bed last Tuesday not knowing whether Betchilove was okay. When he found out Thursday that she was safe, he said, "it was a weird emotion. You're ecstatic for 10 minutes, but then the reality comes back, that (the situation) is still life-threatening."