 
News Release
Canada’s Record On Aboriginal Children
Condemned At United Nations
19 September 2003
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(Toronto) Federal government policies are endangering the lives
of Aboriginal children and youth and could lead to the complete
elimination of status Indians in Canada within five generations
according to a brief presented at the United Nations in Geneva this
week.
The brief was prepared by the Ad Hoc Coalition on the Rights of
Aboriginal Children in Canada and presented by Ed Bianchi, a policy
advocate with KAIROS, a partnership of Canadian churches and religious
organizations dedicated to social justice. Bianchi presented the
brief to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child
(UNCRC) which is probing the state of Aboriginal children worldwide.
“The Canadian government has made a number of pronouncements
over the years about respecting the rights of Aboriginal peoples,
but its actions are actually endangering the lives of Aboriginal
children and youth,” Bianchi said. “Aboriginal peoples
don’t need more pronouncements. They need action that will
implement their rights and improve their quality of life”.
In its questioning of government officials from the Canadian delegation,
the UNCRC raised a number of the concerns expressed in the brief,
including:
- the sub-standard living conditions of Aboriginal children due
to the lack of adequate housing on reserves – poor housing
has a negative impact on the health, education and overall conditions
of First Nations children;
- the Canadian government’s continued implementation of
policies that will lead to the assimilation of Aboriginal peoples;
- Canada’s lack of progress in eradicating poverty for Aboriginal
children and youth, 53 percent of whom live below the poverty
line.
Aboriginal representatives from the coalition that prepared the
brief are also in Geneva for this week of talks.
Bianchi says the coalition’s brief will have an impact on
the final observations of the UNCRC which will be presented in early
October. The Ad Hoc Coalition on the Rights of Aboriginal Children
in Canada also includes the Atlantic Policy Congress of First Nations
Chiefs, the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada,
the Southern Chiefs’ Organization (Manitoba) and the Commission
on Justice and Peace of the Canadian Council of Churches which has
official standing at the United Nations.
Media Contact for additional information/copies of the brief:
Adiat Junaid
Communications Coordinator
KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives
(416) 463 5312, ext. 245
E-mail/Courriel à Adiat Junaid
Network contact for additional information
Ed Bianchi
Policy Advocate/Networking - Aboriginal Rights
KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives
(613) 235 9956, ext. 221
E-mail/Courriel
à Ed Bianchi
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