Poste - Canadian Coalition for the Rights of Children

Concern
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
• domestic national law does not adequately
reflect Convention principles, especially nondiscrimination,
best interests and views of the child
Recommendation
• take action to ensure that the Convention’s general
principles are reflected in domestic law and provide
children the opportunity to be heard in judicial and
administrative hearings affecting them
Update
• Because its provisions have not been implemented by
Parliament, the Convention does not have direct
application in Canadian law.
• The majority decision in the recent Supreme Court
of Canada ruling on Baker v. Canada said that
“children’s rights, and attention to their interests, are
central humanitarian and compassionate values in
Canadian society” and that indications of these values
may be found in international instruments, such as the
Convention. However, a dissenting opinion was
expressed by Justice Iacobucci, who said that requiring
the Immigration Act “be interpreted in accordance with
the Convention would be improper, since it would
interfere with the broad discretion granted by
Parliament, and with the division of powers between the
federal and provincial governments.”
• Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms does not
explicitly recognize children’s rights and the Coalition’s
research indicates that adults can place arbitrary limits
on children’s freedoms in Canada.
• A full review of national domestic legislation was
beyond the scope of this monitoring project. However, a
discussion of children’s fundamental rights and
freedoms can be found in the Coalition’s research paper
on The Fundamental Freedoms, articles 13, 14 and 15.
Concern
• child poverty, especially among vulnerable groups
such as lone parent families, and the lack of programs
for education, housing and nutrition are concerns
Recommendation
• allocate available resources to their maximum extent
to ensure the full implementation of children’s economic,
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social and cultural rights and take immediate steps to
tackle the problem of child poverty
Update
• According to Statistics Canada, in 1997, 19.8 percent
of children under the age of 18 lived in low income
families. (Statistics Canada defines “low income”
families as those who spend 20 percent more of their
income than the average on food, clothing and shelter.
In 1992, the average family spent 34.7 percent of total
income on these necessities, putting the low-income
cut-off at 54.7 percent.) The 1997 child poverty rate
marks a small improvement over the high of 21.3
percent reached in 1993 but it still means that an
estimated 1,397,000 children grow up poor in Canada.
• In 1996, 61.4 percent of families headed by single
mothers with children under 18 were poor. 8
• The federal government has increased its contribution
to the Canada Child Tax Benefit to $850-million per
year, beginning in July 1998. This tax-free payment
($135 per month for the first child and $118 per month
for each subsequent child) is designed to prevent and
reduce the depth of child poverty, reduce barriers to
families who leave social assistance to join the paid
labour force and reduce government duplication. The
benefit is paid to all families with incomes under
$25,921 (except in Quebec, which is not participating
in this initiative). 9 All the participating provinces and
territories, other than Newfoundland and New
Brunswick, have “clawed back” the increase in federal
child benefits rather than increasing the welfare rate
for families with children. All participating provinces
and territories have invested in new or enhanced
benefits and services for low-income families. 10
Concern
• inadequate weight given to immigrant and refugee
children with regard to rights to non-discrimination,
best interests and views of the child
Recommendation
• address the situation of unaccompanied children,
deprive children of liberty as a last resort, speed up
family reunification, avoid deportations that break up
families and take into account the best interests and
respect for the views of the child in immigration,
refugee and deportation hearings