Poste - Canadian Coalition for the Rights of Children

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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, 130 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
Update • The Supreme Court of Canada recently instructed Immigration Canada that decisions made on humanitarian and compassionate grounds require “close attention to the interests and needs of children since children’s rights, and attention to their interests, are central humanitarian and compassionate values in Canadian society.” • A full discussion of issues affecting immigrant and refugee children can be found in the Coalition’s research paper on Article 22. Concern • further measures seem needed to prevent and combat all forms of corporal punishment and ill-treatment of children in schools or institutions and to protect the child from violence and abuse within the family Recommendation • review legislation to prohibit the corporal punishment of children by parents, schools and institutions and consider educational campaigns to help change societal attitudes about the physical punishment of children Update • There is no evidence that the federal government is considering the prohibition of corporal punishment. Section 43 of the Criminal Code allows parents and teachers to use “reasonable force” against children as a means of correction. This makes children the only persons in Canada who can be subject to physical assault without due process. • A full discussion of corporal punishment and child protection issues can be found in the Coalition’s research paper on article 19. Concern • need to protect children from harmful information, especially television violence Update • Most Canadian children watch up to three hours of television a day and this does not vary much according to age or income group. 11 • A discussion of media literacy education can be found in the Coalition’s research paper on articles 28 and 29, The Right to and Aims of Education. H O W D O E S C A N A D A M E A S U R E U P ? 131 Concern • increasing rate of youth suicide Update • The suicide rate for boys aged 15 to 19 was five per 100,000 in 1960, 23 per 100,000 in 1991 and 18.5 per 100,000 in 1996. 12 The suicide rate for girls is about one-quarter the boy’s rate but girls are hospitalized more frequently for attempted suicide. The rate among Aboriginal youth is about five times the national rate. 13 Concern • lack of fundamental rights for vulnerable children, especially Aboriginal, including access to housing and education Recommendation • strengthen efforts to ensure vulnerable and disadvantaged groups better access to education and housing and research solutions to infant mortality and youth suicide in Aboriginal communities Update • Presently, social, economic and health indicators in Aboriginal communities are far below non-Aboriginal communities. The Aboriginal population is growing at twice the rate of the overall Canadian population. Twothirds of the Aboriginal population are under the age of 30, increasing the demand for Aboriginal children’s services. 14 • The federal government announced an Aboriginal Action Plan in 1998 to strengthen Aboriginal governance, develop a new fiscal relationship and build strong communities. 15 • There a number of federal programs serving Aboriginal children, such as the Head Start Initiative16 and the Community Action Program for Children, 17 but the existing services for vulnerable Aboriginal children do not meet the growing demand. Recommendation • use UNCRC as a framework for international development assistance Update • The Canadian International Development Agency has not articulated if or how it intends to use the
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THE UNCONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF T
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C A N A D I A N C O A L I T I O N F
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articles 13, 14 and 15 (cont’d)
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article 23 (cont’d) NEEDS DIALOGU
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article 28 and 29 (cont’d) NEEDS
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Article 13 The Right to Freedom of
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(c) freedom of peaceful assembly; a
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Promoting the Freedoms C A N A D I
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Endnotes C A N A D I A N C O A L I
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Endnotes C A N A D I A N C O A L I
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Coalition Questionnaire: C A N A D
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Bibliography Children with Disabili
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Page 82 and 83: C A N A D I A N C O A L I T I O N F
Page 96 and 97: Title of Act Years of compulsory ed
Page 98 and 99: Endnotes C A N A D I A N C O A L I
Page 108 and 109: Benefit of the Doubt C A N A D I A
Page 110 and 111: Visa Restrictions C A N A D I A N C
Page 112 and 113: Timeliness of the Process C A N A D
Page 114 and 115: Lack of appeal mechanism C A N A D
Page 122 and 123: Process and Protocols PROCESS: Key
Page 130 and 131: Positive Factor C A N A D I A N C O
Page 140: This is aproject of the CanadianCoa
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Poste - Canadian Coalition for the Rights of Children

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