The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child has released a report expressing serious concerns about the welfare of children in Canada, especially Indigenous people.
The committee is extremely concerned about discrimination against children in situations of marginalization and poverty, the report, released on Thursday, said.
The committee cited structural discrimination against Indigenous and Black children, specifically about their access to education, health and an adequate standard of living.
It also noted the difference in respect for the rights of children with disabilities, migrant children and ethnic minority children depending on the province or territory.
This is the first time the committee has reviewed Canada’s accession to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in a decade, with the release of the same painful report on the country’s progress.
The federal government did not immediately respond to a request to comment on the report on Thursday.
The convention, signed by Canada in 1991, is a global agreement that sets out a comprehensive list of rights for all children up to the age of 18. Almost every country in the world is committed to protecting and promoting these rights.
The agreement is based on four basic principles: the right to non-discrimination, the best interests of the child, the right to life and development and the right to participation.
Mercury contamination in water
The experts ofUNincluding lawyers, social workers, child welfare administrators and a physician, pointed out some areas where these principles are not respected in Canada.
For example, experts said the government needs to provide specialized health care for children in the Anishinaabe community of Grassy Narrows First Nation in Ontario who suffer from severe and chronic physical and mental health issues due to contamination. of mercury in water.
The report also featured the discovery of unmarked graves in the areas of several former boarding schools.
Indigenous and Black children are still heavily represented in alternative forms of management such as foster care, often outside their communities, the report said.
They are also at higher risk of abuse, neglect and violence in alternative care than other children in Canada.
In addition to these particular groups of children, the committee also criticized the federal government for not protecting the rights of all children in our country.said Children First Canada founder Sara Austin.
Canada at 30e rank, according toUNICEF
L ‘UNICEF ranked Canada in the bottom third of 38 rich countries for child welfare in 2020, placing the country 30e behind Greece, Latvia and the United Kingdom.
Most people think we are at the top, a world -leading nation for childrensaid Ms. Austin. So there is a huge gap between perception and reality.
In some recommendations, the committee called on Canada to establish an independent federal commissioner for child rights who can receive, investigate and deal with complaints in a child-friendly manner.
Other recommendations include ensuring that children’s access to public health care does not depend on their parents ’immigration status and repealing section 43 of the Criminal Code that allows the use of a reasonable strength to discipline children.
Recommendations for the past 10 years
Several federal bills to ban corporal punishment of children have failed in parliament, Ms Austin said.
The committee called for a national approach to prevent violence against children and said Canada’s child welfare system continues to fail to protect Indigenous children from this particular violence.
Austin said the report represents Canada’s failure to enforce the basic rights of the country’s eight million children.
Many of the recommendations were originally made by the committee in its previous report a decade ago, but concrete actions have not been followed.
The Canadian PressMartin Leclerc
Source: Radio-Canada
