Author: Kathy Vandergrift
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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Child Welfare and Children’s Rights: Reform needed in federal and provincial systems
May 1, 2019Child welfare systems in Canada are not working for many children. Both federal and provincial systems need major reform. Recommendations have been made in numerous reports over the years, but they have often resulted in tinkering rather than reform. Now is the time for action. At the federal level, Bill C-92 introduces significant reforms for […]
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Climate Change in Canada and Children’s Rights
April 4, 2019Children in Canada today will be faced with serious impacts of climate change in their lifetimes – and they will pay the costs. According to scientific updates on climate change in Canada, released on April 2, 2019 by the Government of Canada, changes in Canada are already happening and will continue at double the global […]
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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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Pieces Need a Coherent Plan for Children: Budget 2019
March 20, 2019Children will benefit from some of the new initiatives included in the 2019 Federal Budget. But the lack of a coherent policy framework means that children will also continue to fall through the cracks of a patchwork of programs. Each one addresses a part of what children need to develop their full potential; there is […]
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Government Report on Children’s Rights in Canada Needs More Analysis
February 1, 2019Canada’s 5th-6th report on implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in Canada is now filed with the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. Copies of the report and annexes are available here for your reference. The report shows some progress since the last review. Missing is information on outcomes […]
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