The Challenge of Children’s Rights for Canada

Publication Year: 2001

Canada signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child over a decade ago, yet there is still a lack of awareness about and provision for children’s rights. What are Canada’s obligations to children? How has Canada fallen short? Why is it so important to the future of Canadian society that children’s rights be met? Prompted by the gap between the promise of children’s rights and the reality of their continuing denial, Katherine Covell and R. Brian Howe call for changes to existing laws, policies and practices. Using the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child as their framework, the authors examine the continuing problems of child poverty, child care, child protection, youth justice and the suppression of children’s voices. They challenge us to move from seeing children as parental property to seeing children as independent bearers of rights. In The Challenge of Children’s Rights for Canada, Canada’s obligations and the rights of children are examined from the perspectives of research and development in the fields of developmental psychology, developmental neuroscience, law and family policy. This timely and accessible book will be of interest to academics, policy-makers and anyone who cares about children and about taking children’s rights seriously.

Published by: Wilfrid Laurier University Press

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pp. vii-viii

CHAPTER 1 The Challenge of Children’s Rights

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pp. 1-14

"In September 1993, in the city of Hamilton, Ontario, a group of children broke into an abandoned scrap metal recycling plant where they found mercury. They took the mercury home and played with it, spilling it and throwing it at each other. An emergency response was..."

CHAPTER 2 The Promise of Children’s Rights

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pp. 15-36

"Canada officially embraced a public policy of providing for the basic rights of children in the early 1990s. This occurred with the Canadian government’s signing of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1990 and with the ratification of the Convention..."

CHAPTER 3 The Rights of Provision

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pp. 37-68

"A decade has passed since Canada signed the Convention. How well has Canada performed in implementing children’s rights of provision? Has significant progress been made in actualizing the rights of the child to economic welfare, health care, and child care? We will address these questions first by reviewing Canada’s record in..."

CHAPTER 4 The Rights of Protection

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pp. 69-100

"How well has Canada performed in providing for children’s rights of protection? Has significant progress been made in implementing the child’s right to protection against the toxins of violence, abuse, neglect, and maltreatment? Has the child’s right to a protective juvenile justice system been secured such that children in the..."

CHAPTER 5 The Rights of Participation

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pp. 101-128

"How has Canada fared in implementing children’s rights of participation? To what extent has the child’s right to participation been provided for in family decision making, in schools, and in legal proceedings affecting the child? This category of rights is a new and demanding one, not only for Canada but also for all..."

CHAPTER 6 Meeting the Challenge

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pp. 129-162

"When Canada signed the Convention in 1990, child advocates were hopeful. They envisioned a new practice of children’s rights in Canada. However, their vision has yet to be realized. The gap between the promise of the Convention and current practice means that many children in Canada continue to develop in..."

E-ISBN-13: 9780889208568
Print-ISBN-13: 9780889203808
Print-ISBN-10: 0889203806

Page Count: 254
Publication Year: 2001

Series Title: Studies in Childhood and Family in Canada