Veneer: a thin covering over another surface.

A study, commissioned by UNICEF Canada heralding a report by the Senate of Canada adopted in June, 2007 found that Canada in 18 years has done very little at the national level to implement the Convention on the Rights of the Child. UNICEF We still have no legal framework to ensure the rights of children, no sustainable national plan of action with clear and measurable targets, and no focal point for children at the federal level
Please read this report

www.unicef.ca/portal/Secure/Community/502/WCM/HELP/take_action/Advocacy/CRCat18/CRC18%20EN%20final.pdf

7,814,600 reasons to try harder Canada (as at June 2007)
……………and really support children’s rights in Canada, these are broken down at systemic and programmatic levels. Systemic recommendations refer to legislative and administrative changes and mechanisms for laws, policies and budgeting. In essence, these are ways to guarantee children minimum services and protections rather than leave their well-being to changing public or political goodwill.

Programmatic recommendations refer to the introduction of appropriate interventions for addressing gaps in realizing children’s rights. Implementing them will improve the lives of Canada’s 7,814,600 children as at 2007

Poverty
• Poor children in Canada are unrelentingly poor: the rate of one in six Canadian children living in poverty has persisted for almost a generation. Are you ashamed Canada?

• Child poverty in Canada is worse today than in 1989,1 by some estimates, rising by 20 per cent.

This is a disgrace Minister Jim Flaherty

• Child poverty varies by province and is higher among more vulnerable social groups such as children of single mothers and Aboriginal families

Health
• Canadian children have a relatively high standard of health and access to health care

• Life expectancy has increased, and the infant mortality rate has declined by 22 per cent; but Canada’s infant mortality has stalled at five deaths per thousand births for close to five years while the rate continues to fall elsewhere. Why?

• The infant mortality rate for First Nations children is almost double the rate of the non-
Aboriginal Canadian population

Are you ashamed Canada?

• Injury remains the leading cause of child death

• Rates of immunization have increased but in some provinces are well below the national
target Why?

• Almost 26 per cent of Canadian children are obese (close to the highest rate of obesity among industrialized countries), a rate that has seen a sharp increase over the past two decades; asthma and diabetes rates have also increased Why?

• Only one in five mentally ill children receives treatment as the incidence of mental illnesses among young people has risen Why?

Are you reading this Minister: Tony Clement

Education and employment for the attention of Education Minister Shirley Bond

• Canadian children have relatively high levels of educational achievement, but the transition to employment leaves too many children without the skills to participate; as many as 39.3 per cent of young people plan to take up low-skilled work

My Comment:
Maybe Canada does not want truly educated children and or people who know their ‘rights’ Maybe they just want then to work anywhere, keep fit, pay taxes and not to get sick and of course apathetically ‘keep quiet’ .. the ideal Canadian and very easy to Govern eh?

• There has been a notable increase in the number of girls attaining post-secondary education and in employment opportunities available for young people in general and females in particular; however, there is increasing evidence that the experience of schooling remains uneven for males and females as well as for visible minority children

•While 96 per cent of children with disabilities attend school, there are more limited opportunities for disabled children to participate successfully in education, employment and community life

Violence and abuse
• Child abuse and neglect is the greatest source of violence and harm to children, though measuring trends and impact have been complicated by changing definitions and reporting protocol

• Stronger child protection legislation is a factor that has contributed to a significant increase in the number of children in care—an increase of 60 per cent over the past five years alone; Canada has one of the highest rates of children in welfare care of all industrialized countries.

This is a disgrace Canada what sort of parent will these children make?

• The rate of First Nations children under care is three times that of children from the general population.

Are you ashamed Canada?

• Peer violence and bullying are quite prevalent among young people with 37.2 per cent of young people aged 11, 13, and 15 being bullied and 35.8 per cent of youth involved in a
physical fight.

• Canada has among the highest rates of youth detention among comparable industrialized states, and the age limit for serving adult sentences is as young as 14.

Are you ashamed Canada? Canada is this really the only WAY?

• There is an over-representation of First Nations and ethnic minority children in the justice system. What a ’surprise’ given the history of this country?

Canada’s uneven protection of children’s rights
Since the 1991 ratification of the Convention in Canada, has our conceptualization of children and childhood evolved so that Canadian laws, policies and services place the best interests of children first, and respect children as subjects with rights of their own who participate in our society?

Canada’s consideration of the best interests of the child, and institutionalization of the rights of children to have a say about medical, judicial and other issues affecting them according to their evolving capacities, are uneven in both federal and provincial legislation

Children’s evolving capacity for decision making is very rarely recognized and it remains a rarity for children and young people to be consulted on issues affecting them.

Can anyone tell me if any progress has been made on any points or even actioned or is being done, or is it the old favourite “going to be done’

Systemic Recommendations
• Create an independent national Children’s Commissioner appointed by and reporting to Parliament * Comment: The appointee must have powers excluding apathy

• Create enabling legislation to make the Convention enforceable in the courts; use the Convention as a guideline for any federal and provincial legislation and policies concerning or impacting children, with particular consideration of the principles of best interests of the child, evolving capacity of the child, and child participation

• Create a national plan of action for children with clear targets and timetables and an annual report card, sustained by all parties that addresses a spectrum of concerns including violence, health (including mental health) and poverty

• Coordinate children’s rights and well-being in policies and services on a national level so there are no regional or demographic disparities

• Include children up to the age of 18 in child protection legislation and review
other legislation including labour, justice and medical to address age discrepancies .
Are you reading Nova Scotia

Programmatic Recommendations
• Implement educational programs to ensure that children (as well as adults) are aware of their rights

• Provide programs and services so that children with disabilities, children living in poverty and immigrant children are able to fully participate in society

• Prioritize the needs of First Nations children with respect for their cultural heritage

• Implement the 45 recommendations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and the 24 recommendations of the Senate in Children: The Silenced Citizens to bring Canada into compliance with its obligations under the Convention

* How about changing the habits of a lifetime with the appointment of a ‘non sterile non impotent’ Ombudsman with ’clout’?

Consider: The incidence of ‘cowardly parenting’ where parents just give in to children’s pester power may be the root cause of many ‘childrens problems’
Art Elliott updated FEB 2010