Two women in Ontario have filed a $ 50 million class action lawsuit against the provincial government and the provincial Children’s Aid Societies (CAS) on behalf of those who have been the subject of childbirth fears as well as their families.
The two plaintiffs plaintiffs are Katherine Gandy of Toronto and Emily Walker of Chatham.
They are represented by a law firm Waddell Phillips.
A class action lawsuit was also filed in Manitoba earlier this year by an Indigenous woman whose newborn baby was removed by police and social workers in 2019.
In an email, a spokesman for the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services said he could not comment on a case that is in court or may be in court.
He recalled that this practice stopped in 2020 in Ontario, following a ministerial directive.
However, it was recently reported that this practice will continue in several areas of the province, including Thunder Bay, according to an Aboriginal leader.
The class action claim asserts that SAE violated their child protection mandate by issuing birth alerts against pregnant womenwill we read in the cabinet press release Waddell Phillips.
According to the law firm, birth alerts are motivated by discriminatory assumptions.
He recalled that the CEO of the Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies once said: We know that in most cases, birth alerts cause harm.
The action proposal also says that the government has been negligent in not ending the use of birth alerts for decades, causing great harm to families in Ontario.
People who have been the subject of a birth alarm can contact the law firm to join the class action lawsuit.
Experiences traumatic
Katherine Gandy, an Indigenous woman, became the subject of birth fears in 2016, after the birth of her third child.
These first two children were taken from her, because of her young age and her past as a victim of domestic violence.
Ms Gandy was able to prevent the removal of her third child, despite the enormous trauma she suffered, including the colonial, racist and illegal nature of the birth alertcan we read in the document presented to the court.
” Katherine suffered a severe violation of her dignity by being the subject of a fear of childbirth. Her pregnancy and the birth of her third child were marred by fear and trauma. “
For her part, Emily Walker has been the subject of two such alerts, in 2019 and 2020.
In 2018, she filed a complaint with the police for assault, after she was allegedly assaulted by her partner while she was pregnant.
She contacted the Chatham Children’s Aid Society, which launched an investigation, saying her unborn child may be in need of protection.
Although the investigation did not show that Emily Walker was unable to care for her child, the SAE of Chatham issued a birth alert thinking she could reconcile with her abuser.
Her children were taken from her, because of the father’s presence.
He would only see them under the supervision of a CAS representative and suffer from depression, especially since the pandemic had limited the number of possible visits.
Source: Radio-Canada
