Author: Kathy Vandergrift
Climate Change in Canada and Children’s Rights
September 23, 2019Climate Strike events across Canada this week are opportunities to advocate for children’s rights. Children’s right to health explicitly includes the right to grow up in a healthy environment, as articulated in Article 24 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Both federal and provincial governments have ratified the Convention and have an […]
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Children’s Rights Need to be Central in Child Welfare
September 7, 2019On September 6, 2019 the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal ordered the Canadian government to pay compensation to First Nations children who had suffered from discrimination and violation of their rights in Canada’s child welfare systems. The amount of the award for each child is to be determined through an independent process. The total cost is […]
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Preventing Homelessness and Children’s Rights
July 22, 2019Canada can do more to prevent youth homelessness, according to research with youth on the street. Waiting until young people are in crisis is costly in human impact and finances. Addressing the issues that contribute to youth homelessness coincides with implementing the rights of children. This is another area where paying attention to children’s rights […]
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Speak Up for Children in 2019 Election
July 12, 2019Children are not allowed to vote but they will be affected by the results of the upcoming federal election. Everyone can speak up to ensure that children’s policies are part of the public discussion this fall. It is timely because 2019 is the 30th Anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Children […]
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Healthy Conditions for Growing Up in Canada
June 19, 2019The right to health in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 24, is helpful in Canada because it highlights the importance of the social determinants of health for children. Canada’s report for the 5th/6th review of children’s rights recognizes vulnerable groups of children but pays too little attention to the conditions in […]
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Closing Gaps: All Rights, All Children
May 24, 2019Canada has a patchwork of policies for children. The result is that some children fall through the cracks of fragmented support systems. Children need a more coherent approach to public policies that affect their ability to develop their full potential. The Convention on the Rights of the Child, which all governments in Canada have ratified, […]
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Children’s Commissioner: Accountability in Children’s Rights
April 2, 2019The Canadian Coalition for the Rights of Children (CCRC) welcomes a renewed focus on the need for a national children’s commissioner, which re-started today with the introduction of a private member’s bill by MP Anne Minh-Thu Quach. “The current lack of accountability for implementation of children’s rights across Canada is a major gap in good […]
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