The Information and Privacy Commissioner is asking the Ministry of Social Services to conduct another search of child placement records for a Sixties Scoop survivor.
In May 2018, the unidentified applicant requested the records from the Ministry for a period from 1954 to 1970, but the Ministry claimed the records were destroyed.
“An extensive search for records had been completed and Social Services was unable to locate any paper files in the Applicant’s name. Further, that its computer system indicated that while a file did exist at one time, from October 1968 to December 1972 in Regina, it has since been destroyed,” stated Ronald Kruzeniski’s report. “In addition, it added, that the record management practices changed significantly in the 1980’s; records prior to that were not kept according to extended retention schedules.”
The Applicant is a registered class-action plaintiff of the of the Sixties Scoop Settlement and would need documentation to demonstrate that they were or permanent wards for compensation.
Kruzeniski noted that “the records Social Services claimed it destroyed would demonstrate the Applicant was a permanent ward.”
“[The] Applicant was confused and concerned when told there were no records because a sibling was able to obtain similar records dating back to the 1970s. The Applicant expressed to my office that accessing childhood records is of great importance in this case,” said Kruzeniski.
“From April 2016 to March 2020, the Ministry has received 2401 CFP access requests. Of these requests, 88 per cent have been provided with a positive response and 12 per cent received a response of “records do not exist”, stated a Ministry spokesperson. “If a record doesn’t exist, this could be due to the fact that based on the timeframe, services were not provided by the Ministry of Social Services, or files related to services of a short term nature were destroyed according to approved retention schedules.”
(PHOTO: Sixties Scoop apology ceremony. By Dan Jones)