Canadas National Child & Youth Commissioner

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Whereas on November 18th 1989, an all party Resolution to eradicate child poverty was passed unanimously by the House of Commons and almost twenty years later, Campaign 2000s report released in 2008 has found that 760,000, or almost one child out of every nine children in Canada lives in poverty; and

Whereas on January 12th 1992 Canada ratified and became a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and today, there has been little progress toward the integration of the spirit, intent and commitment to transfer the theory of Child Rights from theory into reality and as a foundation to Canadian social and economic policy for our children and youth; and

Whereas there is no governmental, or national body, or organization has taken leadership, or responsibility for tracking and monitoring the thousands of children who are missing, trafficked, exploited and murdered in Canada each year; and

Whereas Canada, unlike many other nations with much better outcomes for their children, has no national leadership and oversight, nor takes any responsibility for overseeing and monitoring the provinces and territories in their provision of services to children and youth regarding their health, well-being and outcomes and they are Canadas future; and

Whereas, in a recent UNICEF report, Canada tied for last place amongst developed nations on ten standards for child care and failed to meet minimum standards for a national plan for disadvantaged children, subsidized and regulated child care services for 25\% of children under 3, 1\% of GDP spent on early childhood services, a child poverty rate less than 10\% and 80\% of child care staff trained; and

Therefore, be it resolved that the signatories to this petition call for the creation of a creation of a Select Standing Child and Youth parliamentary committee, which will be non-partisan, with appointees who are leaders in child and youth advocacy in their provinces, Canada and internationally; and

Therefore be it resolved that the signatories to this petition call on the Canadian government to immediately create and fund a National Child & Youth Commissioner, an independent officer of Parliament, whose role and mandate will be to take national leadership in overseeing and monitoring of how each province and territory is meeting the human rights and needs of its children and youth as set out by the UNCRC.

Finally be it resolved that the National Child & Youth Commissioner will report annually on the progress being made by each province and territory and Canada, as a whole, toward meeting the human rights and needs of its children and youth and will provide public recommendations for the Canadian government on how to ensure that child and youths rights and needs are the foundation of social and economic policy in Canada.

48 Signatures

  • Linda Korbin
  • Sylvie Kruchten
  • paul Jenkinson
  • Dr. Lionel Traverse
  • Mark Brown
  • Nicole Hale
  • Gary E Edwards
  • National Union of Public & General Employees (NUPGE)
  • Michael Goldberg
    • Comments
    • A national child and youth commissioner is long overdue.
  • Dr. Elizabeth Bredberg
  • Debbie Eng
  • Shauna Filgate
  • Lenore Rosen
  • Angela Rea
  • Bill Engleson
    • Comments
    • Given BC's abysmal record on eradicating child poverty, a compliance mechanism at the federal level seems essential.
  • Brandy Assoon
  • Teresa Prendergast
  • Stephanie Callaghan
  • Danielle Ungara
  • Sharon Swanson
  • Noel Gregorowski
  • linda macnutt
    • Comments
    • The children of our country and indeed ,our world, will require strength of body and of spirit in order to navigate the challenges of conflict resolution in a world facing huge gobal issues. We must support, nuture and care for them.
  • Isidore Noel
    • Comments
    • I am a Registered Social Worker in BC and fully support this petition
  • Tanya Strubin
  • Tina Gautama
  • Elaine Hooper
  • Myrna Tracy
  • Stacey M. Walsh
    • Comments
    • I urge Canada to promote and protect the interests of some of the most vulnerable individuals in our society. We CAN do this!
  • Teresa Ferguson
    • Comments
    • I wholeheartedy agree with this statement. It is a national shame on Canada that we haven't done better for the children and youth.
  • Anne McMillan
    • Comments
    • My heart breaks to think that Canada is so cavalier with the children in our Country. Our future depends on the care and nurturing of our youngest citizens.
  • Brian McMillan
  • Veena Birring
  • Lauren McCusker
  • stephen elliott-buckley
    • Comments
    • choosing to not track horrible statistics intensifies the shame our governments should be feeling.
  • Anita Romaniuk
    • Comments
    • Why are we still waiting?
  • Paul Johnston
  • Shreynesh Romi Chandra
  • Don Devine
  • Sue Stroud
    • Comments
    • Sicl to death about what's happening to children in Canada. It's disgusting that people are willing to vote in government's that don't care if children live or die. We need a National Housing Strategy to make sure children have a safe haven to call home, this will get the rest of the ball rolling.
  • Patricia Renard
  • Danielle Gauld
  • I. Mckibbin
  • Shelly Johnson
  • David Roy
  • charles fraser
    • Comments
    • it is a terrible day in Canada, when we still have such a high rate of children and their families living in poverty, shame on the governments of the day. We as Canadians deserve and demand better accountability from the PM's office. Try putting as much critical work into this issue as you did when you formulated your gold plated pensions.
  • rhonda veniot
  • Margaret Killin-deMello
  • Shauna Fine
    • Comments
    • В