Child and Youth Advocate Supports Canadian Council of Child and Youth Advocates (CCCYA)
On Message to the UN That Canada Must Do Better to Improve the Lives of Aboriginal Children

Today (Monday February 6) the Canadian Council of Child and Youth Advocates (CCCYA) will table a special report on Aboriginal Children – Canada Must Do Better: Today and Tomorrow – at the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child. Irwin Elman, Ontario’s Child Advocate, is attending the session on behalf of the CCCYA.

The CCCYA’s report documents how Aboriginal children in Canada are disproportionately represented in the youth justice and child welfare systems. Not only do they have poorer health status, they lag significantly in educational outcomes, and they are too often the victims of sexual exploitation and violence. Their rates of death and injury are disproportionately high.

The Council is also renewing its call for a national Children’s Commissioner who would act as an independent statutory officer of the Parliament of Canada. The CCCYA strongly believes that effective oversight would centralize the focus and accountability necessary to improve the living conditions and well-being of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children and youth in Canada.

Carol Chafe, the Child and Youth Advocate for Newfoundland and Labrador, said today, “As the Child and Youth Advocate for Newfoundland and Labrador and a member of the CCCYA, I feel that this is a very important and significant issue in Newfoundland and Labrador and in every province throughout Canada. I fully support the message that we, as a council, are taking to the United Nations to influence Canada’s commitment to improve the outcomes for Aboriginal children and all children.”

The CCCYA’s report can be viewed at:
www.rcybc.ca/Images/PDFs/Reports/CCCYA_UN_Report-FINAL%20oct%2027.pdf 

- 30 -

Media contact:
Janice Mullins
Office of the Child and Youth Advocate
709-753-3888
janicemullins@ocya.nl.ca 

2012 02 06                            10:20 a.m.