Children's Charter and Convention Rights in Canada: An Advocacy Perspective

Abstract

Realization of the human rights of children, as articulated in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, is complicated in Canada by the role of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the role of the Canadian Human Rights Act, and the structural division of powers between federal and provincial governments in Canada’s constitution. Reflection on twenty-five years of advocacy for implementation of the Convention in Canada concludes that the current approach to implementation is inadequate to overcome the structural obstacles to full realization for Canada’s children. This paper presents a case for incorporating the Convention into Canadian law; it also argues that more robust implementation of the Convention through Canadian law would improve the way that Canada’s federal system of governance works for young people.