B.C. to settle class action over birth alerts that separated newborns from mothers
The British Columbia government has announced a proposed $66 million settlement to resolve a class action lawsuit over the controversial practice of birth alerts, which involved child welfare workers contacting medical practitioners about pregnant individuals, often leading to the apprehension of newborns shortly after birth. This practice disrupted care and mother-infant bonding. B.C. is the first province to settle such a class action, with approximately 2,842 people identified as potential class members.
Background on birth alerts
Birth alerts were officially discontinued in B.C. in 2019, and most other Canadian jurisdictions have followed suit. However, the practice had a disproportionate impact on Indigenous communities. In the final 20 months that B.C. issued official birth alerts, 58 percent of those affected were Indigenous, despite Indigenous people comprising only about 5.7 percent of the province's population.
Settlement details
The proposed settlement does not constitute an admission of wrongdoing. However, it includes provisions for a senior B.C. government official to make a public statement acknowledging the impact of birth alerts and for the province to facilitate roundtable discussions with class members. The total number of class members is not yet finalized, but the province has identified a list of about 2,842 individuals who may have been subject to a birth alert.
Other provinces facing similar lawsuits
B.C. is not alone in facing legal action over birth alerts. Separate class actions have been filed in Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan. However, B.C. is the only province to indicate an intention to settle. In Ontario, a court certified the province as a defendant but not children's aid societies, leading to appeals from both sides. Manitoba has sought to strike the class action, arguing that the representative plaintiff's birth alert occurred too long ago, a claim her lawyers reject, citing the province's concealment of the alert. Saskatchewan has attempted to bar the use of reports from the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls inquiry and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission as evidence, deeming them hearsay.
Tina Yang, a lawyer representing plaintiffs in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario, hopes other provinces will follow B.C.'s example. At minimum, she wants the cases to be debated on their merits, particularly regarding Charter rights to equal treatment. Plaintiffs' lawyer Michelle Segal emphasized that the B.C. settlement is significant not only for providing meaningful compensation but also for acknowledging the harm caused.
