Summary

Bill 629 amends The Child and Family Services Act to require the Minister to preserve records relating to Indigenous children in residential schools, day schools, boarding homes, and the sixties scoop, and to establish specific factors the Minister must consider when deciding whether to disclose information from child welfare files. The bill also requires the Minister to provide written reasons when denying disclosure requests.

This bill changes how the Ministry of Social Services handles historical child welfare records, particularly those involving Indigenous children. It creates a mandatory duty to preserve all provincial records relating to Indigenous children who were placed in residential schools, day schools, boarding homes, vocational or reformatory schools, or taken into care during the sixties scoop (electronic preservation is sufficient). When someone requests access to child welfare information under existing access provisions, the Minister must now consider six specific factors favouring disclosure, including whether the request involves residential school or sixties scoop records, whether it relates to a child's death or injury and is sought by family, whether it would assist truth and reconciliation efforts, and whether it would help living family members answer intergenerational questions about deceased relatives. If the Minister denies a request or releases only part of the information, written reasons must be provided to the applicant.