Halfway between the beginning of Advent and the joy of Christmas is a date of importance that few of us will take note of; on December 13th, 1991 Canada ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The most widely accepted human rights treaty in history, the CRC sets out the civil, political, economic, social, health and cultural rights of children and youth. It calls for governments – and by extension society – to faithfully nurture, educate, and care for the world’s two and a half billion children – including the eight million who call Canada home.
The Convention also calls for the protection of children from violence and abuse, including (in an addendum that was added this past February) measures to be taken to protect children from harms easily encountered in the digital world.
In the 30 years since Canada ratified the Convention, the country has been moving slowly to adopt laws and policies to help us meet our obligations to our children as designated by the CRC.
Regrettably, in what is a review process conducted by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child that typically takes place every five years, we continue to be assessed as having fallen short. In fact, Canada has been steadily dropping in global rankings over the past decade and, according to a 2019 report by UNICEF Canada, we rank 25th of the 41 richest nations in overall child and youth well-being.
Concerns being raised in the most recent UN review focus on questions such as: “What is being done to reduce the overrepresentation of indigenous and African Canadian children in the criminal justice system?” and “what measures and comprehensive programme of action targeting the sexual exploitation of children and the sharp increase in reported cases of online child pornography are being made”?
These concerns, along with housing and poverty reduction strategies (areas the church has traditionally taken a stand on) directly impact the wellbeing of children. Our own Diocesan grassroots community programming in local missions and parish outreach efforts are themselves part of a support network that is of critical importance to families and children living in poverty.
There is one recommendation that has been made to Canada that I am hopeful the church will embrace: the appointment of a national dedicated advocate for Canada’s children.
While most provinces and territories have officially appointed “Advocates” or “Commissioners” no federal equivalent has been established despite two decades of community organizations and Canadians of all political affiliations urging the Government of Canada to do so.
What is envisioned is a non-partisan Commissioner, whose office would be mandated by statute, and led by an independent Officer of Parliament responsible for protecting and promoting the rights and wellbeing of Canadian children and youth (0-18). Such a mandate, it should be noted, is backed by Recommendation 12.9 of the Inquiry on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women’s call for justice.
This lack of a national framework for implementing children’s rights continues to undermine the wellbeing of our children- who, despite being regularly invoked in terms of planning for the future, cannot expect their rights to be intentionally included without an advocate…which brings me to Jesus…who reprimanded his disciples when they tried to dismiss or undermine the importance of children saying: “Let the little children come to me, and stop keeping them away, because the kingdom of God belongs to people like these.” International Standard Version Luke 18:16
With eight million children looking for support and an advocate of their own, perhaps this is an opportune time for the church to join Senator Moodie, author of Bill S-210, in calling for a Children’s Commissioner.
For more information on why and how Canada should move swiftly to appoint a Commissioner for Children please refer to the following documents:
- It’s time for a National Children’s Commissioner for Canada-UNICEF Canada 2010
- Press Release UNICEF Canada 2019
- Bill S-210 An act to establish the office of the Commissioner for Children and Youth in Canada – Senator Moodie 2020
- The Canadian Council of Child and Youth Advocates’ Alternative Report to Canada’s Combined Fifth and Sixth reports on the Convention on the Rights of the Child
