by Daniella Bendo
The implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) in 196 nations over the past 25 years has led to an understanding of children as citizens with fundamental rights. By ratifying the UNCRC in 1991, Canada made a commitment to protect these rights. As a leading country, Canada played a primary role in the 11 years it took to draft the UNCRC from March 1978 to March 1989. By facilitating communication amongst over 40 countries representing diverse religious, ideological, cultural and political values, Canada encouraged ratification of the Convention. Despite these efforts and obligations, a large majority of youth lack basic knowledge of the treaty, although Canada celebrates its 25th year of ratification.
More than 60 countries around the globe have appointed a federal commissioner for children and youth to promote and protect children’s rights. Canada, however, has not. At the provincial and territorial level, the Canadian Council of Child and Youth Advocates serve as the leading advocacy group in this country. The mandates of the provincial and territorial Child and Youth Advocates have evolved primarily to protect and promote children’s rights — only in certain sectors. The Council has set forth to fulfill the following role:
- Work to ensure the rights of children and youth are respected and valued in communities and in government practice, policy and legislation
- Promote the interest of and act as a voice for children who have concerns about provincial-government services
- Engage in public education
- Work to resolve disputes and conduct independent investigations
- Recommend improvements of programs for children to the government and/or the legislative assembly
Although the Council works to advocate for many vulnerable children and youth, the Council does not have the capacity to act as a legal counsel, and more importantly does not address issues relating to education. As a result, certain groups of young people — such as Indigenous youth, refugee children and other at-risk youth — ‘fall through the cracks’ at the national level.
If a federal Commissioner for Canada’s children and youth were to be appointed, the Commissioner would have the power to monitor, assess and report on services provided to children, advocate for the rights of children and young people and raise awareness of and advancing of the UNCRC. In 1979, Landon Pearson, former Canadian Senator (1994-2005), founder of the Landon Pearson Resource Centre for the Study of Childhood & Children’s Rights at Carleton University and dedicated advocate for children’s rights, wrote a report, A Commissioner for Canada’s Children, outlining the potential role of a Children’s Commissioner in Canada.
- Work with federal departments and Parliamentary committees to promote a higher political priority for children and give greater visibility to children’s issues within government and civil society
- Work to improve public attitudes to children and increase public awareness of children’s rights by developing advocacy programs
- Identify policy issues relevant to children
- Provide advice to federal departments on issues of concern to children
- Ensure that departments and Parliamentarians have access to the best possible research on the impact of proposed policies on children
- Engage children and their natural advocates, especially parents and their family members
- Liaise regularly with the Canadian Council of Child and Youth Advocates, Aboriginal youth serving organizations and other stakeholders; and assist federal departments to organize consultations with young people and their advocates
The instatement of such a role may even be a good first step to appropriately addressing and eliminating the disproportionately high rate of youth suicide amongst Indigenous communities, such as Attawapiskat in northern Ontario.
As it stands, the Liberal government appears to be “dragging their feet” when it comes to addressing these crises, according to Jonathan Solomon, Grand Chief of the Mushkegowuk Council. This was part of a public statement he made in response to the suicide deaths of two 12-year-old girls in a northern Ontario community in January 2017.
If children are feeling as though they have so little power that their only solution is to take their own lives, there is a problem, one that this government has a duty to address.
This article first appeared in the Leveller Vol. 9, No. 6 (Spring 2017).
