September 28, 2005

International Conventions for Children

"Extend the non-partisanship reflected in the unanimous vote of the Legislature endorsing the Convention by creating an all-party committee of the Legislature to focus on child and youth issues. Among other things, the Committee could articulate British Columbia's plan of action, identify the performance outcome measures and transparently report on progress in relation to those measures, all in the context of the Convention and with the support of the Child and Youth Officer. "
Jane Morley, Child and Youth Officer, Issue Paper No. 2, September 2005

BC's Child and Youth Officer is busy with more than a special investigation into a botched "kith & kin" placement that resulted in the death of a 19 month old child in 2002. Her website is being populated with articles and issue papers.

Her "Issue Paper No. 2" asked: "Can the principles embedded in the international Convention on the Rights of the Child (the Convention) and Canada's national action plan, A Canada Fit for Children, be used effectively as a framework for a non-partisan, made-in-British Columbia plan to guide the development and implementation of a unified, cross-ministry, community-based approach to planning and delivery of services for children, youth and families? "

Morley's June 2005 special report titled "Healthy Early Childhood Development in British Columbia: From Words to Action" said that it highlighted "… the reflections arising from the Healthy Child BC Forum held in November 2004, which was attended by international experts on child health and early childhood development, and practitioners and policy makers from across British Columbia." However the report distanced itself somewhat from the Forum when it went on to say that "Child and Youth Officer's recommendations, which are based not only on those reflections, but also on numerous studies, plans and reports on the subject, as well as on discussions with policy makers, service providers and advocates."

Background papers for the Forum went beyond the Convention on the Rights of the Child and Canada's nation action plan. One paper pointed out that Canada has also ratified several other international conventions: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Morley focused on only two of the conventions while ignoring others. Anyone comparing the 1966 Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights brought into force in 1976 with the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child brought into force in 1990, will see a stark difference. The 1989 Convention speaks about rights to be free from abuse and to have access to education, but it doesn't go into the scope captured by the 1966 Covenant, which said: "Children and young persons should be protected from economic and social exploitation. Their employment in work harmful to their morals or health or dangerous to life or likely to hamper their normal development should be punishable by law. States should also set age limits below which the paid employment of child labour should be prohibited and punishable by law." Recall that the Campbell government recently amended Labour Standards so as to permit children as young as 12 to work.

Whether the scope is limited to the 1989 Convention or expanded to include earlier Conventions, the Campbell government would be well advised to heed Morley's suggestion and create a Legislative committee to focus on child and youth issues.