Democracy in the 21st century: children: the silenced citizens/ La democratie au XXIe siecle: les enfants: des citoyens sans voix.

• Author: Andreychuk, Raynell
• Position: Guest Editorial/Collaboration speciale

Canada took a leadership role in drafting the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and in encouraging widespread adherence. The convention took its final form in 1989 and Canada ratified in 1991. The Convention is the first legally binding international instrument to describe civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights specifically for children.

In 2004, the Senate Committee on Human Rights began a study on the rights of children. Over the next three years the Committee heard eye-opening testimony about Canadian children and youth whose futures were at risk. We heard stories about children who were being subjected to violence, who were being exploited sexually, who were tangled in the justice system, children with disabilities who were not receiving the services they need to grow into their full potential. We heard about immigrant children who were separated from their families and about children who were forced by the system to be on their own just when they were starting to put their troubled lives back together.

The Convention could be a useful mechanism for these children. It protects children's rights by setting standards in health care; education; and legal, civil and social services. International human rights treaties are rarely incorporated directly into Canadian law, but are indirectly implemented by ensuring that pre-existing legislation is in conformity with the obligations accepted in a particular convention. Parliament plays no role in ratification, thus international human rights treaties that are not directly incorporated into domestic legislation bypass the parliamentary process. Implementation of international law where provincial laws and policies are affected is the responsibility of the federal, provincial and territorial governments.

Numerous witnesses expressed concern about the lack of awareness in government, in Parliament, and among the public, of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the rights enshrined in it. Throughout our hearings, we became aware that there is very little knowledge of the Convention outside academic and advocacy circles. Canada does report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and receives that Committee's Concluding Observations, but there is little follow-up.

In government, even among those dedicated to protecting children's rights, knowledge of the nearly 20-year-old Convention is spotty at best. The Committee has discovered that some government officials working towards the protection of children's rights seem to operate in ignorance of the international tool at their disposal. In many respects, the Convention is simply not used as a means or a framework to protect children's rights.

In its Report tabled on April 26, 2007, the Committee found that the federal government's approach to compliance with children's rights, and with the Convention in particular, is inadequate. Jurisdictional complexities, the absence of effective institutions, an uncertain approach to human rights law, and lack of transparency and political involvement indicate that the Convention is being ineffectively applied in the Canadian context.

To push both the issue and respect for the democratic process further, we need enhanced accountability, increased parliamentary and public input, and a more open approach to compliance that promotes transparency and enhanced political will.

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is not solidly embedded in Canadian law, in policy, or in the national psyche. Governments and courts use it only as a strongly worded guiding principle with which they attempt to ensure that laws conform, rather than acting as if they are bound by it.

No body is in charge of ensuring that the Convention is effectively implemented in Canada, and the political will is lacking. Implementation is the key to making the Convention work. For Canada to claim that it fully respects the rights and freedoms of its children and to remain a human rights leader in the international sphere, it must improve its level of actual compliance. The government needs to take the lead with respect to implementation of the Convention.

The Committee proposed measures to guarantee systematic monitoring of the...