Poste - Canadian Coalition for the Rights of Children

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C A N A D I A N C O A L I T I O N F O R T H E R I G H T S O F C H I L D R E N clear that children do benefit from a number of ongoing initiatives, including: • programs to improve children’s health and address HIV/AIDS, micronutrient deficiencies, female genital mutilation and immunization; • efforts to facilitate respect for the views of the child through international meetings and conferences on land mines, gender issues, child labour, and sexual exploitation and abuse; • the adoption by Canada of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction and the development of “Our Missing Children,” a program to protect abducted children found crossing international borders; • the ratification by Canada of the Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Cooperation in respect of Intercountry Adoption; and • cooperation with the International Labour Organization to eliminate the worst forms of child labour. article 4 how does canada measure up? RIGHTS ALERT: Canada has not honoured its commitment to spend 0.7 percent of GNP on international aid. NEEDS ACTION: Statistics and information on federal programs and policies for children are unclear and unreliable. NEEDS ACTION: CIDA has no goal or strategy for adopting the principles of the Convention. NEEDS ACTION: CIDA needs tools to evaluate the impact of its programs on children. Other federal departments, such as Foreign Affairs and International Trade, need to look at the effects of Canadian policies on children in developing countries. 8 UN Reporting Category: Civil Rights and Freedoms convention articles 13, 14 and 15 The Fundamental Freedoms Articles 13, 14 and 15 address a child’s right to three fundamental freedoms: • freedom of expression; • freedom of thought, conscience and religion; and • freedom of association and peaceful assembly. (These articles should be interpreted in conjunction with article 5 of the Convention, which recognizes the responsibilities, rights and duties of parents to provide appropriate direction and guidance in a manner consistent with the evolving capacities of the child.) Canada has adopted several international human rights instruments which make specific reference to the fundamental freedoms. Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms also guarantees these freedoms for everyone in Canada and allows for restrictions as determined within the context of a free and democratic society. Some provinces and territories have human rights commissions, ombudsmen and advocates to uphold fundamental rights. In Canada, the issue of children’s rights is rarely addressed by the media except for a few cases of flagrant violation or exceptional court cases. It is difficult to assess children’s level of awareness of their fundamental freedoms. Many children learn about rights and responsibilities in their school’s social studies classes.
The federal government offers teachers lesson plans on rights and freedoms through the Internet on the School Net web site but if or how the material is used is not known. Special efforts are made to protect children’s fundamental freedoms when they have been removed from their homes and live in the care of the state. Because the state has assumed the role of parent when a child is in care, the government is responsible for protecting the rights of these vulnerable children. Except for the Atlantic provinces, government-appointed advocates assist children in care in making their views heard. Incidents concerning children’s rights occasionally capture public attention, such as the recent court case involving a 13-year-old boy’s refusal to undergo cancer treatments that were against his religious beliefs and the highschool teacher who strip-searched 19 students after $90 was reported missing from a gym bag. But on the whole, children’s rights have not been widely debated in Canada. This may be a result of complacency, ignorance or an indication that children’s rights are generally protected. Like adults, children can challenge restrictions on their freedoms through the courts and human rights commissions, although very few have done so. Most restrictions on children’s freedoms are dealt with privately and informally in the home or at school. In the absence of widespread public discussion, there is little consensus about children’s fundamental freedoms. Are these rights inherent or do they need to be earned? What are reasonable limits? What are unreasonable infringements? How can the tension between children’s rights and parent’s rights be resolved? How can rights in the private sphere be monitored? How are community and school standards determined in a pluralist society? H O W D O E S C A N A D A M E A S U R E U P ? articles 13, 14 and 15 9 how does canada measure up? NEEDS ACTION: Canadian legislation should specifically recognize children. Although the Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees rights for everyone, children are often overlooked. Age discrimination in human rights legislation does not address children. NEEDS ACTION: Legislation, particularly municipal by-laws, should be reviewed to ensure that they do not place unreasonable restrictions on children’s freedoms. • There is concern that some restrictions in municipal by-laws may be contrary to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Convention. NEEDS ACTION: Children’s fundamental freedoms should be recognized in education legislation. These rights should be consistently respected in schools across the country. • Teachers and principals have broad discretionary powers to restrict the freedom of students. • These rights restrictions are applied arbitrarily with little, if any, accountability or recourse. NEEDS ACTION: Accessible redress mechanisms that are meaningful to children should be in place. • Challenging a restriction on the freedoms through the courts or human rights commissions is a lengthy, usually expensive and often intimidating process. • There appears to be considerable variation across the country in access to redress mechanisms. • There are no federal redress mechanisms such as a federal ombudsman or commissioner for children. NEEDS ACTION: Children in care should have their fundamental freedoms explained to them systematically and in a way they can understand. Children in care should have swift, effective and equal access to redress mechanisms.
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Process and Protocols PROCESS: Key
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Concern C A N A D I A N C O A L I T
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This is aproject of the CanadianCoa
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