Campaign Updates
Public Statement from Canadians for a National Apology, July 22, 2026
Response to the Government of Canada’s Tabled Reply to Petition e‑6782
Today, the Government of Canada quietly tabled its response to Petition e‑6782, which calls for the immediate implementation of all four recommendations of The Shame Is Ours Senate Report, beginning with a formal public apology delivered in Parliament.
The government’s reply acknowledges the “significant and lasting impact” of forced adoption, but it does not commit to a National Apology. It does not commit to implementing the Senate’s recommendations. And it does not acknowledge the federal government’s documented role in enabling and funding the system that separated an estimated 350,000 mothers and children.
Instead, the response repeats language previously issued in 2019, focusing on constitutional divisions of responsibility and present‑day legal protections. This does not address the historic harm. It does not address federal involvement. It does not answer the petition.
Petition e‑6782 asked for three clear actions:
1. Implement all four recommendations of The Shame Is Ours Senate Report.
2. Begin with a formal National Apology delivered in Parliament.
3. Acknowledge federal responsibility for its role in the forced adoption era.
The government’s reply does not commit to any of these steps.
Forced adoption was not a provincial anomaly. It was a nationwide system shaped by federal policy environments, federal funding streams, and federal actors. The Senate report documented this clearly. Survivors and families deserve a response that reflects the gravity of what was done to them — not a recycled statement that avoids accountability.
Canadians for a National Apology will continue to press for:
- a formal National Apology
- acknowledgment of federal responsibility
- full implementation of the Senate’s recommendations
The government’s quiet tabling of this response does not close the conversation.
It opens it.
This is the beginning of our fight for justice — not the end!
Public Statement from Canadians for a National Apology
Today, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer delivered a full, formal state apology for the British state’s role in historic forced adoption practices in England and Wales. He acknowledged that an estimated 185,000 babies were taken from their mothers — with women coerced, pressured, bullied, or misled into surrendering their children because they were young, unmarried, or without support.
Addressing the House of Commons, Starmer described these practices as “a stain on our history” and told survivors: “The shame is not yours. The shame was never yours. The shame is ours.” He emphasized that forced adoptions were not isolated or accidental acts, but systemic practices embedded across local authorities, religious organizations, and parts of what is now the NHS. These institutions operated with power over people’s lives, yet without compassion, consent, dignity, or proper safeguards.
The apology follows years of campaigning by mothers, children, and families whose lives were permanently altered by forced separation. The UK government announced a £4 million support package to improve access to adoption records, strengthen family reunion services, and establish support groups for mothers and adopted adults
.
For Canadian survivors, this moment is profoundly significant. More than 350,000 families in Canada were impacted by similar practices — mothers, children, fathers, siblings, and extended families whose lives were changed forever. These practices did not end neatly in the 1970s. They continued into the 1980s and 1990s, affecting thousands of Canadian families who have never been acknowledged by their government.
Canada has yet to formally recognize this history or the harm caused.
The UK apology demonstrates that national governments can confront the truth, acknowledge systemic wrongdoing, and take responsibility. This moment strengthens our call for Canada to issue its own national apology for forced adoption practices and to begin the long-overdue work of justice, apology, and healing.
Our apology is long overdue!
June 20, 2026 — Op Ed Submission and Publication
As part of the ongoing work during this important 45‑day period in which the federal government is deciding their response to Petition e‑6782 — Call for a National Apology for Canada’s Postwar Forced Adoption Practices, campaign Founder Christine Nayler submitted an op ed to multiple media outlets across the country — including both mainstream and progressive publications — after these outlets did not respond to the pitches and requests to cover this growing movement for a national apology. The op ed was then published on her Substack.
The piece, titled Complicit, addresses the continued media silence surrounding Canada’s post‑war adoption practices and the moral obligation journalists have to shine light on state harm, not look away from it.
Read the op ed: Complicit (link)
Update- June 18.2026 - Silent No More, A National Day of Action
Today we are announcing a National Day of Action calling for a government apology for Canada’s forced and coerced adoption practices. As Parliament rises for the summer, survivors and families across the country are preparing gatherings, vigils, and public witness events at former maternity home sites. Public‑witness artist Christine Nayler will travel with her Empty Chair / Empty Cradle installation to key cities as part of this national moment. Full details are available on our National Day of Action page
Update- June 15, 2026 , Documentary Film Announcement - Moment of Truth
We want to share something important unfolding alongside the renewed national call for a federal apology. Filmmaker and advocate Christine Nayler is creating a documentary titled Moment of Truth, which is documenting this growing survivor‑led movement in real time from the inside. The film follows the political process, the voices of survivors, and the historic moment set in motion when Christine’s federal petition was read in the House of Commons on May 26. That petition created a turning point. It placed forced and coerced adoption into the public record and triggered a legal requirement for the Government of Canada to respond within 45 days. We are now in that window — a moment of accountability survivors have waited decades to see. The movement is growing quickly. Survivors are coming together to demand justice, and many Canadians are learning for the first time about this shameful part of our history. And survivors are not standing alone. Support is rising across harm‑reduction, human‑rights, gender‑justice, and anti‑poverty movements — all recognizing the shared patterns of institutional harm and the need for truth and accountability. This moment is being witnessed, recorded, and carried forward with care.
PUBLIC STATEMENT
Canadians for a National Apology
June 11, 2026
In June 2026, CBC’s The Current asked the Government of Canada whether it intends to issue a National Apology for Canada’s post‑war forced adoption practices.
CBC reported that the office of the minister of jobs and families did not directly answer the question.
“The Government of Canada is deeply grateful to those who have come forward to share their experiences,” the office wrote instead in a statement, calling it a “difficult chapter in Canada’s history.”
“Legal safeguards, including Charter protections and international human rights commitments, now help ensure that such practices cannot occur today.”
WHY THIS RESPONSE IS INADEQUATE
1. It avoids the central question.
CBC asked whether the government will issue a National Apology.
The Ministry of Jobs and Families did not answer.
2. It reframes systemic harm as “a difficult chapter.”
Forced adoption was not a chapter.
It was a nationwide system that affected an estimated 350,000 families.
3. It leans on “legal safeguards today” instead of addressing past harm.
Survivors are not asking whether it can happen now.
They are asking the government to acknowledge what was done then.
4. It ignores the Senate’s explicit call for a National Apology.
The Senate recommended that an apology be issued within one year of its 2018 report.
It is now eight years later.
This language closely mirrors the Government of Canada’s 2019 response to the Senate’s landmark report The Shame Is Ours, which:
- acknowledged the “significant and lasting impact” of forced adoption
- pointed to current legal and Charter protections
- emphasized provincial jurisdiction
- did not apologize
- did not accept responsibility
- did not commit to implementing the Senate’s recommendations
In both 2019 and 2026, the Government of Canada:
- expresses gratitude to survivors
- frames forced adoption as a “difficult chapter”
- points to legal safeguards today
- shifts focus away from federal responsibility
- avoids answering the central question: Will Canada issue a National Apology?
This pattern is precisely why our campaign exists.
WHAT CANADIANS CAN DO
1. Contact your Member of Parliament.
Ask them to support a National Apology and raise this issue with the Minister of Jobs and Families and the Prime Minister.
2. Visit and share the campaign website.
https://www.nationalapology.ca
The website includes:
- the Open Letter for organizations
- information about the Senate report
3. Follow the campaign on Instagram for updates.
4. Encourage organizations to sign the Open Letter.
OUR COMMITMENT
Canadians for a National Apology will continue this campaign until:
- the Government of Canada acknowledges the harm
- accepts responsibility
- issues a formal National Apology in Parliament
- and takes concrete steps in line with the Senate’s recommendations
Survivors deserve truth!
Survivors deserve justice!
Letters Sent
June 11, 2026
To the Honourable Patty Hajdu
Minister of Jobs and Families
Dear Minister Hajdu,
I am writing on behalf of Canadians for a National Apology in response to your office’s statement to CBC’s The Current regarding whether the Government of Canada intends to issue a National Apology for the forced adoption practices that affected an estimated 350,000 families.
Your office did not answer the question.
Instead, the statement expressed gratitude to survivors, described forced adoption as a “difficult chapter,” and referenced current legal safeguards. This language closely mirrors the Government of Canada’s 2019 response to the Senate report The Shame Is Ours, which similarly acknowledged harm but did not accept responsibility or commit to the Senate’s recommendations.
Survivors are not asking whether forced adoption could happen today.
We are asking the Government of Canada to acknowledge what was done to us then.
We respectfully request:
1. A clear answer on whether the Government of Canada intends to issue a National Apology.
2. A meeting with you or your senior staff to discuss the Senate’s recommendations and the path forward.
We look forward to the opportunity to speak with you.
Sincerely,
Christine Nayler, Founder
Canadians for a National Apology
nationalapology.ca
Letter in Response to Government response to Petition e-6782
July 23, 2026
Dear Minister Hajdu,
I am writing in response to the government’s reply to Petition e‑6782. While the response acknowledged the “significant and lasting impact” of Canada’s forced adoption practices, it did not commit to a National Apology, did not commit to implementing the Senate’s recommendations, an
d did not acknowledge the federal government’s documented role in enabling and funding the system that separated an estimated 350,000 mothers, children, and families. For families across the country, this was deeply disappointing.
The 2018 *Shame Is Ours* Senate report made clear findings: Canada’s forced adoption practices were systemic, widespread, and harmful, and the federal government played a role in shaping the conditions that allowed these practices to occur. The harm was lifelong. The trauma continues throughout families. The impact is intergenerational.
Your reply closely mirrors the government’s response to the Senate report. It focuses on constitutional divisions of responsibility and present‑day legal protections rather than addressing the historic harm, federal involvement, or the recommendations made by the Senate. It does not answer the petition. It does not acknowledge the federal role. It does not commit to any action.
We will continue to advocate for justice for the estimated 350,000 mothers, children, and families who were separated through Canada’s forced adoption practices. Recognition, accountability, and a National Apology are long overdue, and we will continue to press for the full implementation of the Senate’s recommendations.
Sincerely,
Christine Nayler
Founder, Canadians for a National Apology