SENATORS’ STATEMENTS — Child Rights Impact Assessment

Honourable senators, I have spent the majority of my career focused on the health and well-being of children. As a mother of three sons and a grandmother to one beautiful granddaughter, I am personally vested in their health and well-being and that of all children.

Children are a gift to us. They hold our past, our present and our future. But the reality is that children hold fewer rights and protections than adults. Unlike you and I in this chamber, they do not have a voice at the table when decisions impacting their lives are being made. Laws and policies that fail to consider the rights of children and their well-being negatively impacts all Canadians today and for generations to come.

In 1991, Canada ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. It was the first international convention to integrate civil and political rights with economic, social and cultural rights. The Honourable Landon Pearson, the “Children’s Senator,” played a pivotal role for Canada in the development of the convention. I had the privilege to co-author General Comment No. 11 on Indigenous children and their rights under the Convention.

The convention is a living document that has reshaped our nation’s understanding of how our laws and policies impact children and how their basic needs are rights that must be protected and provided. But, sadly, children are still overlooked in government decision making. That’s why advocates and organizations such as UNICEF Canada have called for governments to introduce a child rights impact assessment in their decision-making processes. This assessment is grounded in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and would ensure that impacts on children are considered before decisions are made that affect their lives.

In July of last year, the Department of Justice released a process to help ensure that children and adolescents are not overlooked in legislation and policy decisions. However, the use of this assessment tool is not mandated and is optional for departments. Countries such as Austria, South Korea, New Zealand and Scotland have adopted child impact assessments in law or in their strategic plans. As senators, we can ensure a child rights impact assessment tool is used consistently and robustly as intended and ensure decisions taken in this place are good for all children.

Honourable senators, if the Government of Canada can mandate gender equality, privacy and environmental protection in its decision-making processes, then it is time for us to include a child rights impact assessment. Colleagues, I would be happy to work with you to make this a reality. Thank you. Hiy Hiy.