COMMITTEE ON RIGHTS OF THE CHILD CONSIDERS SECOND PERIODIC REPORT OF CANADA

17 September 2003

The Committee on the Rights of the Child today considered the second periodic report of Canada on how that country was implementing the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Introducing her country’s report, Landon Pearson, Senator and Advisor to the Foreign Minster of Canada on Children’s Rights, said Canada’s approach to the implementation of the Convention was multifaceted, including constitutional protection under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, legislation, policies, programmes and public education. She said Canada’s federal, provincial and territorial governments were well aware of their obligations under the Convention and took them seriously.
Ms. Pearson also expressed her country’s strong commitment to promoting and safeguarding the rights of Canada’s children – and, indeed the rights of all Canadians – in an effective and meaningful way; that commitment was of long term and of paramount concern for all levels of government across the country; and that broad national commitment required the Government to be ever vigilant in reviewing and assessing its progress for children and in taking positive collaborative measures.
In the course of their consideration of the report, Committee Experts, including the country rapporteur Moushira Khattab, raised a number of questions under the main subjects of general measures; definition of the child; special measures; civil rights and freedoms; family environment and alternative care; basic health and welfare; education, leisure and cultural activities; and special protection measures. In a preliminary remark, the rapporteur said that the Committee was enriched by the information provided to it by the delegation.
The Canadian delegation was composed of Ian Ferguson, Minister, and Deirdre Kent, First Secretary, from the Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations Office at Geneva; Marthe St. Louis, Senior Advisor, Human Rights, Humanitarian Affairs and International Women’s Equality at the Foreign Affairs and International Trade Ministry; from Health Canada: Kelly Stone, Director, and Cecilia Van Egmond, Senior International Analyst, Division of Childhood and Adolescence; Dawn Walker, Special Advisor, First Nations and Inuit Health Branch; from Justice Canada: Carole Morency, Senior Counsel, Family, Children and Youth, Criminal Law Policy Sections; Paula Kingston, Senior Counsel, Youth Justice; Elaine Mendard, Counsel, Human Rights Law Section; Stan Farber, Counsel, Family, Children and Youth Section;
From Humanitarian Resources Development Canada: Kathryn McDade, Senior Director, Social Policy; Tim Hunsley, Policy Analyst, International Relations; from Citizenship and Immigration: Rick Herringer, Director, Refugee Resettlement Division; from Canadian Heritage: Calie McPhee, Manager, Human Rights Programme; from Indian and Northern Affairs Canada: Joan Atkinson, Assistant Deputy Minister, Socio-Economic Policy and Programmes Sector; from Alberta: Iris Evans, Minister of Children’s Services; Paula Tyler, Deputy Minister, Children’s Services; Mark Kastner, Executive Assistant to the Minster; from Quebec: Lucie Marmen, Director, Direction of International Organizations, Ministry of International Relations; from Newfoundland and Labrador: May McCarthy Mandville, Solicitor, Department of Justice.
The Committee will issue its formal, written concluding observations and recommendations on the report of Canada towards the end of its three-week session which will conclude on 3 October.
As one of the 192 State parties to the Convention, Canada is obligated to present periodic reports to the Committee on how it is implementing the provisions of the treaty in the territories under its jurisdiction.
When the Committee reconvenes at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 18 September, it is scheduled to take up the second periodic report of New Zealand (CRC/C/93/Add.4).
Report of Canada
The second periodic report of Canada (CRC/C/83/Add.6) contains information on measures adopted by the Government of Canada and the provincial and territorial governments concerning children. It says that the Convention on the Rights of the Child plays an important role in the development and implementation of children’s rights in the country. From 1993 to 1997, the Government introduced many measures to enhance the well being of children. During that time, the Convention influenced Government policy strategies, action plans and initiatives. It affected judicial decisions concerning the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, relevant legislation and the common law. The Convention had been specifically considered in legislative development in the areas of child prostitution, child sex tourism, criminal harassment and female genital mutilation, as well as in the ongoing renewal of youth justice.
The report recalls that in 1997, the Criminal Code was amended to allow for the Canadian prosecution of persons who engage in child sex tourism and to facilitate the apprehension and prosecution of persons who seek out the services of juveniles in Canada. The bill also includes provisions for a mandatory minimum sentence of five years imprisonment for any person living on the avails of prostitution in relation to a person under the age of 18 and who uses violence against the person under that age.
According to the report, from 1993 to 1997, the Government of Canada adopted measures to enhance the well being of Aboriginal peoples, including Aboriginal children. Measures announced as part of Gathering Strength include a Statement of Reconciliation by Canada, formally acknowledging and regretting historic injustices; community healing to address the effects of physical and sexual abuse in the residential schools system; an Aboriginal languages programme; an on-reserve Aboriginal Head Start programme; resources to increase the number of adequate housing units on reserves; and additional resources to address the inadequacies of water and sewer facilities on reserves.
The rights of children are a priority within Canada’s foreign policy, the report says. Canada has been a leader in promoting the rights of children throughout the world and in ensuring their protection from exploitation and abuse. Canada has effected change by creating and sustaining constructive bilateral relationships with other countries and through cooperative efforts with international agencies such as UNICEF.
Introductory Statement by Delegation
LANDON PEARSON, Senator, Advisor to the Foreign Minister of Canada on Children’s Rights, expressed her country’s strong commitment to promoting and safeguarding the rights of Canada’s children – and, indeed the rights of all Canadians – in an effective and meaningful way. That commitment was of long term and of paramount concern for all levels of government across the country. That broad national commitment required the Government to be ever vigilant in reviewing and assessing its progress for children and in taking positive collaborative measures.
The population of Canada was spread across a vast geographic area, with regional differences in language, economic base and demography, Ms. Pearson said. Canada was a bilingual, multicultural, multiethnic and multiracial society. Canada’s approximately 8 million children included many immigrant children. They also included a substantial number of young Aboriginal children, who made up the fastest growing segment of Canada’s child population.
Ms. Pearson said her country was proud of its achievements and its ability to take a leadership role in many endeavours. But the Government was also aware that it had a responsibility to adapt to changing realities and to move forward at an unrelenting pace if one was to ensure that the goals and principles of the Convention were fully realized across Canadian society. Canada’s approach to the implementation of the Convention was multifaceted, including constitutional protection under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, legislation, policies, programmes and public education. In a federal state such as Canada, there might sometimes be differences in how services were delivered in the various jurisdictions. It was believed that those differences could make a positive contribution to the protection of children’s rights in the country. That was because federalism encouraged a variety of perspectives to be brought forward. All governments in Canada were well aware of their obligations under the Convention and took them seriously.
To help children reach their full potential, and to support families with children, Canada’s federal, provincial and territorial governments had adopted shared priorities in the area of early childhood development. In support of those priorities, the Government of Canada was transferring $500 million per year to provinces and territories to expand and improve early childhood development programmes and services, Ms. Pearson said. Most recently, federal, provincial and territorial governments had announced a Multilateral Framework on Early Learning and Child Care. Through that framework, the Government of Canada was providing $900 million over five years to provincial and territorial governments. The money was being used to improve access to affordable, quality and regulated early learning and child care programmes and services.
Ms. Pearson said the federal level of governments was directly responsible for many programmes relating to Aboriginal children and youth. One early investment programme that had had a profound effect on children was Canada’s Aboriginal Head Start programme. That comprehensive early childhood development programme for Aboriginal children and their families living in urban centres and large Northern communities had grown substantially since its inception in 1995. It now served 3,500 children in 114 communities across Canada. The on-reserve programme currently served 7,700 children in 265 communities.
In the area of child protection, Canada’s long-term priority remained consistent: to ensure that children were adequately protected against all forms of victimization, including victimization through abuse and sexual exploitation, Ms. Pearson continued. Since the last report, numerous criminal law reforms had been enacted to strengthen the protection of children against exploitation through prostitution and child pornography. Those reforms included measures to ensure that the criminal justice system better reflected the unique needs and realities of children as victims and witnesses in criminal proceedings.
Concluding, Ms. Pearson said Canada was deeply committed to promoting and safeguarding the rights of its children, realizing that it still had much work to do to fully achieve the Convention ideals and principles across Canadian society. Canada had invested years of effort to improve conditions for children in the country and it would continue to work hard for its children, striving to learn from its own and others’ experiences, and to develop and share tangible and innovative initiatives to advance children’s rights.
Discussion
MOUSHIRA KHATTAB, the Committee Expert who served as country rapporteur to the report of Canada, said Canada had done a lot of things to promote and protect the rights of children. The achievements made by Canada towards children were numerous. During the consideration of the report of Canada, the Committee would discuss issues pertaining to the definition of the child differently in many parts of the country; non-discrimination concerning Aboriginals and migrants; refugees who were not given refugee status, and discrimination against them in some areas; the issue of suicide among Aboriginal children; the right not to be subjected to ill-treatment and torture; diversity of family structure; parental abduction; homelessness; the situation of single parents and poverty; sexual exploitation; and street children.
She said the report had followed the reporting guidelines laid down by the Committee. The written response was too exhaustive with more than 270 pages. Nevertheless, the report did not fully respond to the Committee’s previous concluding observations and recommendations. It was not clear if Canada had withdrawn its reservation on article 21 of the Convention on the system of adoption.
Ms. Khattab said that Canada had made great progress in improving the conditions of Aboriginals. However, the increasing number of Aboriginal children under welfare programmes and their impoverishment was a concern for the Committee. The high prevalence of alcohol and abusive substance among Aboriginal children was also a concern.
HATEM KOTRANE, the Committee Expert who served as alternate country rapporteur to the report of Canada, said that his visit to that country and the reports he had received from Canadian non-governmental organizations had enriched his knowledge about the situation of children in Canada. He suggested that the rights of children should be given an important place at the federal level. Referring to Canada’s reservation on article 37 (c) of the Convention concerning the separation of children in conflict with the law from adult inmates, he said Canada should withdraw such reservations, including that on article 21 of the Convention.
Other Committee Experts also raised a number of questions under the main subjects of general measures of implementation; definition of the child; and general principles. They asked how federal and state government policies on the rights of the child were harmonized and coordinated; if there was a central body that coordinated policies and monitored the implementation of the provisions of the Convention; the respect for the best interest of the child in all decisions; the legal protection of children born out of wedlock; the high rate of suicide in Quebec; why funds to NGOs were reduced; and about the concept of “visible minorities”, among other things.
The Canadian delegation responded by saying that despite the vast geographical differences, the federal, provincial and territorial governments pursued similar programmes on the promotion and protection of the rights of children set forth in the Convention. The principles of the best interest of the child and non-discrimination were reflected in all the programmes intended for children. The entities also shared best practices in the implementation of the rights of the child.
The Government of Canada carried out discussions with the provincial authorities before it ratified any treaty, the delegation said. That was done to find out if provincial legislation was contradictory to international conventions. Since the provincial governments were equally responsible for the implementation of the provisions of conventions entered to by the federal Government, a debate had to take place before signing the treaties. Once consultations with the provincial governments were concluded, it was hoped that Canada would ratify the Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Concerning Canada’s reservation on article 21 of the Convention on child adoption, the delegation said the State party made that reservation because of the various adopting criteria existing within the culturally diversified societies of the country. Adoption among Aboriginal communities could take into account the historical norms and traditional values attached to the process of adoption. Canada left the system of child adoption to each community that followed different traditional rites and practices in the process of adoption.
Canada had no immediate intention to withdraw its reservation concerning article 21 of the Convention.
The quality of services and programmes provided to First Nations communities was the same as those provided to Canadians in other parts of the country, the delegation said. The Government was also ensuring that the programmes and services were equally accessible and affordable to all. The Government also put in place mechanisms so that the First Nations took control of their own affairs into their hands.
Committee Experts continued raising questions on the main issues of civil rights and freedoms; and family environment and alternative care. They asked, among other things, about the persistence of corporal punishment; the diversity of family structures and their impact on children; expulsion of parents whose children acquired Canadian nationality; the high record of adoption of girls and the confidentiality of their dossier; the debate on homosexual couples and the measures taken to protect the best interest of the child; the situation of homelessness in Canada; the guarantee to reveal the origin of the child adopted after majority age; the system of the different institutional residences, where a large number of Aboriginal children were kept; the rate of school dropouts, particularly in secondary schools; and the removal of perpetrators of child abuse instead of the child.
Child participation was one of the main efforts that the authorities were pursuing with civil society, the delegation said. The Government had been trying, through bills and other forms, to encourage the involvement of young people in all aspects concerning them. They were encouraged to take part in educational programmes to assess the impact these programmes had on youth. Within the Senate and the House of Commons (legislative bodies), the members invited children to join them in their discussions to hear their points of view. Across the country, the voices of young people were heard in all activities, including programmes and services that were designed for children. Children were among the Canadian delegation to the Special Session on Children of the United Nations General Assembly held in New York.
In Alberta, for instance, children were engaged not only in participation but also in producing their own services, such as child websites, the delegation said. They were allowed to sit with policy-making bodies to give their opinions on issues under discussion. Many decisions and regulations concerning children reflected the opinion of children. Children also took an active in role in dealing with issues of violence, abuse and other subjects that affected them.
With regard to juvenile justice, the delegation said a national roundtable discussion had been carried out on the juvenile justice system. The policies for the system were drafted after opinions were collected from youth. In the parliamentary debate on legislation on the juvenile justice bill, children had expressed their negative and positive experiences concerning the juvenile system, which had impressed the legislators.
During the judiciary process of a convicted young person, his or her basic rights were always respected, the delegation said. A young person under 18 years, sentenced to prison terms, was not placed with adults. Such measures were taken in keeping with the principle of the best interest of the child. The bill on the youth justice legislation, issued in April, was drafted to be consistent with the provisions of the Convention. However, Canada was not ready to withdraw its reservation under article 37 (c) of the Convention on the separation of children deprived of liberty from adults.
Child poverty was declining in Canada and the incidence of low-income among families with children had dropped from close to 16 per cent in 1996 to 11.4 per cent in 2000, the delegation said. The Government recently introduced a long-term investment plan to increase National Child Benefit supplements for low-income families by $ 965 million per year by 2007.
With regard to homelessness, the delegation said the Government had renewed its commitment by increasing funds to support homeless people. It had already taken measures to increase long-term independent living by homeless persons, who were mainly among the youth and Aboriginal Canadians. Further, the Government had taken preventive and emergency measures to support homeless people.
Concerning refugees and children of asylum-seekers, the delegation said that Canada did what was in the best interest of these children. The authorities could take into consideration the issue of expulsion involving parents of Canadian children. If the decision targeted a whole family, the children with Canadian nationality could also be included. Canada was revising its regulation on landing fees, which concerned asylum-seekers and migrants. A reception centre had been provided in Ontario for unaccompanied and separated children, particularly for those children between 16 and 18 years of age, where they were provided with vocational training.
On corporal punishment, the delegation said that the issue of corporal punishment was being considered by the Supreme Court of Canada and its views had not yet come out. Section 43 of the Criminal Code permitted a parent, teacher or person acting in the place of parent to use reasonable force against a child by way of correction. The position of the authorities of Canada was to support programmes aimed at the promotion and protection of the rights of children by maintaining mild and non-injurious treatment of corrective methods. The court would rule on the constitutionality of Section 43 of the Criminal Code and decide whether it infringed on children’s constitutional rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The issue of child abduction in connection with custody rights had been of considerable importance to Canadian authorities because of its increase in recent years, the delegation said, adding that the Government had taken further measures in this area.
The process of inter-country adoption was carried out in accordance with the provisions of the 1993 Hague Convention on the Protection and Cooperation in Matters of Inter-Country Adoption. The fact that most of the adopted children were girls did not mean that there were discriminatory practices in Canada. In the countries of adoption, more girls were made available for adoption than boys.
Canada’s international cooperation for development aid would be doubled by the year 2010, the delegation said, adding that the present target of 0.7 per cent for overseas development assistance was currently fulfilled. The support of the Canadian public was essential for the Government to continue with its development assistance.
In order to cope with domestic violence, the Government and provincial governments were taking measures to remove perpetrators for a period of up to two years, the delegation said. Shelters were made available for victims, particularly for women with children. In Alberta, for example, a centre had been constructed to shelter victims of violence who had fled away from their homes. The identities of the victims were kept secret to protect them from further violence.
Responding to questions raised by Committee Experts under the remaining main issues of basic health and welfare; education, leisure and cultural activities; and special protection measures, the Canadian delegation said that 9 out of 1,000 newborns were affected by alcoholic syndromes, which was a concern to the Government. In order to cope with this phenomenon, the Government had put in place screening mechanisms and other preventive measures.
The educational system had been designed to corporate indigenous values, the delegation said. The Government had recently allocated a large sum to help children of First Nations to be fully integrated in the educational programmes intended for them.
Preliminary Remarks
MOUSHIRA KHATTAB, the Committee Expert who served as country rapporteur to the report of Canada, said the Committee was enriched by the information brought to it by the delegation. The Committee recognized that many challenges still remained to be resolved in Canada, particularly the situation of unaccompanied children and children of asylum-seekers, among other things. The composition of the delegation did not reflect the cross-cultural nature of the Canadian society. During its meeting, the Committee had not been able to cover all the clusters as they were normally addressed.
LANDON PEARSON, the Head of the Canadian delegation, said most of the children in Canada were remarkably doing well and the Government would continue to make all Canadian children enjoy their rights.