Ontario family hopes for fresh start in New Brunswick

The Borja family is making a fresh start in Fredericton after a racist incident in their previous hometown of London, Ont.

Juan and Edna Borja and their daughter, Elisha, spoke out publicly last month when strangers called the police on them after seeing the family running an errand at a Shoppers Drug Mart.

Juan and Edna are Filipino Canadians and their adopted daughter, Elisha, is Caucasian, which led strangers to assume, and report to police, that she had been kidnapped.

Juan Borja told Information Morning Fredericton that police officers soon realized that it was a mistake when he answered the door and they saw inside the family's home.

Juan and Edna Borja adopted Elisha as an infant in 2018 and have loved her ever since.

He said he agrees with the public looking out for children's welfare. But he asks that people look more closely at a situation rather than making assumptions, especially since his daughter wasn't even upset on the day of the report to police.

After the incident, Juan and Edna spoke up. It wasn't the first time they had experienced insulting questions about their family since adopting Elisha.

"Before we decided to adopt a child from Canada, me and my wife were already joking that we might get a lot of questions like, 'Are you the nanny or caregiver,'" said Juan. "And it's been happening."

They now carry her adoption papers with them so they can prove their parenthood.

When they decided to move to New Brunswick, eventually settling on Fredericton after visiting several communities, they reached out to community groups on social media to introduce themselves in the hopes of avoiding similar situations. The family was in the process of relocating this weekend.

"I keep posting to introduce ourselves so that they will be [familiar] with my family," said Juan. "It's not for us. We don't want to be famous. We would like to prevent these incidents again and we don't want our daughter to suffer."

Maura McKinnon, the executive director of the New Brunswick Multicultural Council, said she thinks the Borja family reaching out to community groups is positive, but says the reason behind it is unfortunate.

"I hope that New Brunswickers will treat the family with respect and appreciate that they have chosen to make NB their home," she said in an email. 

"I encourage people, before asking questions or making judgments, to put themselves in the shoes of the Borja family – and ask themselves – will what I'm going to ask/say make a positive difference? Is what I'm going to ask/say something I would want said to my family?"