Volume 21, Number 2, 2005
Articles
- The Quest to Access Closed Adoption Files in Canada: Understanding Social Context and Legal Resistance to Change - Cindy L. Baldassi
The quest to open previously sealed adoption records has captured public imagination and media attention, but proponents have found only limited success in attempting to change Canadian adoption laws. This paper explores the history of secret adoption and examines why most records remain at least partially closed today. After explaining the difference between open adoption and open records, the history of both sealing adoption files and the subsequent attempts to open them are discussed in the context of the popular psychological theories and the prevalent social and cultural trends in North America at key times. The paper reviews Canadian jurisprudence and current legislation, and proposes some explanations for the lack of significant change in most provinces.
- Stretching the Boundaries in Child Access, Custody and Guardianship in Canada - Aliamisse O. Mundulai
- Polygamous Marriages in Canada - Amy J. Kaufman
Traditionally Canada has been unwilling to recognize polygamous marriages. Members of polygamous marriages have been excluded from entitlement to full marital relief, denied the right to immigrate to Canada, and barred from openly celebrating such marriages. Many Canadians argue persuasively that polygamy is an institution that subjugates women, and, therefore, it should not enjoy the same recognition as monogamous marriage; however, proponents of civil liberties and secularization argue that the individual, not the state, should decide what is an appropriate relationship.
With the advent of the Charter and legalization of same-sex marriage, Canada's approach to polygamous marriage may be changing. The article traces the history of Canada's approach to polygamous marriage, from the definition laid down in the nineteenth-century English case of Hyde v. Hyde, early Canadian cases involving marriages according to First Nations' custom, to recent immigration cases and refugee claims. The article outlines Canada's current approach to recognition of polygamous marriages according to conflict of laws principles and compares it briefly with that of the United Kingdom and the United States. The article concludes with considerations of Charter guarantees and other implications of recognizing and decriminalizing polygamous marriage.
Book Reviews
- Jane Ribbens McCarthy, Rosalind Edwards & Val Gillies, Making Families: Moral Tales of Parenting and Step-Parenting (York: Sociology Press, 2003). - Gerald J. Lecovin, Q.C.
- Daniel Cere & Douglas Farrow, eds., Divorcing Marriage: Unveiling the Dangers in Canada's New Social Experiment (McGill-Queen's University Press, 2004). - Daniel James Mol
- Alain Roy, Le Contrat de Mariage Réinventé: Perspectives Socio-Juridiques pour une Réforme (Montréal: Editions Thémis, 2002). - Michel Tétrault