Help Return Noah Kirkman to Canada (a post from Dinner With Julie)

A good friend of mine introduced me to the blogging food genius that is known as Dinner With Julie. Today however it appears that there is something much more serious on her mind:

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Help Return Noah Kirkman to Canada.

By Dinner with Julie

Sorry guys, this post is going to be less about food and more about getting a 12 year old Calgary boy – the nephew of friends and neighours just a few doors down the street – his aunt is someone you may in fact recognize as a regular commenter here – back home. I’ve been shocked and appalled to learn that he has been shuffled between four foster homes for NEARLY TWO YEARS after being taken into custody while visiting his stepdad in Oregon for the summer when he was stopped by police FOR RIDING HIS BIKE WITHOUT A HELMET. IN 2008.

I am completely serious.

Closing in on dinnertime (see, there’s a connection here – and dinner was boring anyway – pita pizzas eaten over the sink), we spent an hour out on the front step chatting with Noah’s aunt and grandma, hearing appalling details about their case. I’m just dumbfounded that Canadian officials aren’t doing more to get him back. It’s crazy that there isn’t more of an uproar over this.

So here’s the story. Noah, who was 10 at the time, went down to visit his stepdad (his mother’s husband, the man who raised him since he was a toddler and is the father of his younger sister) in a small town in Oregon in the summer of 2008. One day, the police stopped him for riding his bike without a helmet. They questioned him (alone) and took him into custody with the reasoning that his Mom, Lisa, had abandoned him by sending him to the states to spend the summer with someone who wasn’t his legal guardian (although he does have parental authority in Canada). His mother’s note giving permission for Noah to be with his father in the US wasn’t enough. His sister already lived there with their dad (they were and are still married), and he went to stay with them while his mom got things in order to move from Montreal back to Calgary.

An Oregon family court gave the Department of Human Services custody of Noah, who in turn was placed in foster care. His family here was told the intention was to have him adopted.

Since then – over the past almost 2 years – he has been through four foster families and three schools. He’s a special needs boy with severe ADHD, and an A student. They tripled his meds, and put him on Zoloft. They say he’s doing fine, so he should probably just stay. (!! He was doing just fine here before he went down for his holiday.) When his family goes down to visit (when they are permitted-last time his mother was denied entry to the US) their visits must be supervised with authorities kept at arms’ length. When they talk on the phone, they aren’t allowed to mention the possibility of him coming back home – there was an uproar when his 7 year old sister asked if he would be home for Christmas.

Noah’s mom and grandparents have been ordered to go through various psychological assessments, evaluations and extensive home studies; all have passed. And yet he still hasn’t been sent home. They have another court date in the US on May 28 but aren’t holding their breath. Perhaps if enough people raised a stink about it someone in a position of power might be inspired to do something?

Of course this all goes against the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, which requires that governments hand over children to their place of usual residence (which would be here) in order to decide the best course of action.

Keep this story in mind if you plan to send your kids to the US to visit friends or relatives who aren’t their legal guardians, even if you send along a letter of permission.

Want to hear more?

You can read the Globe & Mail story here.

You can read the FFWD story here.

You can join the Facebook page here.

You can watch it on CNN.

If you want to do something about it, contact Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Call the media, your alderman, anyone who can do the same. Contact the Minister of Foreign Affairs – Deepak Obhrai is the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and can be reached at (403) 207-3030

And/or email your MP – in Calgary you can contact MP Lee Richardson’s constituency office at (403) 244-1880 or try Rob Anders (403-292-6666)

If you’re in the US, Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoshi has a Citizens’ Representative Message Line: (503) 378-4582

Thanks.

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So that's the story. Can you even begin to imagine? Being the mother. The stepfather. The family. Being Noah. It's such a bazaar situation that it's hard to believe that it's true. But it is... 110%

If you can help in anyway, please do.

Thanks,