A number of Calgary students are among the team of youth recruited from all over Canada tasked with finalizing a new document in Ottawa aimed at protecting and fulfilling the rights of children.
The Canadian Children’s Charter was drafted six months ago, on National Child Day, to take aim at the issues affecting Canadian children, such as mental health services, bullying, discrimination, abuse and family violence.
Discussions on the document will also be taking place via a webcast with many other schools, including several in Calgary.
Roman Wolfli, a student at River Valley School, says participation in the Charter talks is important because even if you think that Canada is a great place for children, the statistics tell a different story.
“One in five Canadian children live in poverty, one in three Canadians have faced some sort of child abuse; it’s not something you’d expect from wealthy country like Canada and it’s kind of a sad state of affairs,” he says.
He says that government action is essential to make a positive impact on these issues.
“We want to get the government involved to protect the children and do what we need to to improve all of these factors that Canada lags behind in.”
The finalized Charter will be released to the Canadian public and shared with the United Nations.
The draft of the Children’s Charter can be found HERE.
