An Update, Such As It Is

I guess this counts as an update, although I'm not sure how useful the information is. I spoke with Nina Sihota of BC Adoption Services late this afternoon to follow up on a few questions I had regarding the role of the BC government in resolving this fiasco. First and foremost was to find out what they are doing to ensure that all of us "pre-referrals" get our adoptions completed. The answer was no different than anyone else has received to date, namely, it's a possibility, but no decision has been made yet. One will be made (fairly) soon. I got the impression that a decision would be made in the next few weeks, but not necessarily by the creditor's meeting on the 30th.

Of interest - Nina is meeting with her provincial counterparts this Friday to discuss this and other issues relating to Imagine Adoption. The topic of pre-referrals will be covered then, although she says it's not anticipated that a final decision will be forthcoming from that meeting.

Following my questions about the ongoing viability of Imagine Adoption, I asked whether, if the adoptions cannot proceed, those of us who lost money will be indemnified. I suppose we can all, to some extent, claim priority based upon funds in trust, but that only covers about one-third of my fees paid. In addition, I have no comfort that the money was actually properly segregated into a trust account, so I'm not hopeful that even that amount will be returned. I was told by Nina that this too, is a topic being covered at this Friday's meeting. And I have to say - I fully expect that we will be made whole. The public pressure on the Ontario government has been significant and they have clearly played some role by virtue of their regulatory obligations to supervise this agency. So I think we'll get our money back, and then they can do what they have to do to recover those funds from Sue, Andrew and/or the Board of Directors. Small comfort, ultimately, but it's something.

After the meeting on Friday is finished, BC Adoption Services will summarize whatever progress, decisions, etc. were made, and send the information to each of the 6 registered adoption agencies in BC to be forwarded to all Imagine clients. So we should hear something late Friday, or Monday.

In the meantime, I gaze upon this and remain grateful for what I have...