Justice committee  That is correct. The Convention on the Rights of the Child for good reason argues for protecting their privacy. It is because what we want is for them to learn to be responsible adults. Publication of their names often results in them joining a community that leads them into greater crime.

Justice committee  One of the core principles I mentioned is that the best interests of the child be taken into consideration, and that is not incorporated into Bill C-10 and the youth criminal justice system. Article 40 of the convention deals specifically with penal justice for persons under the age of 18.

Justice committee  That is the kind of question that a thorough impact assessment on how this legislation compares to the rights in the convention would show you. That's why I'm saying all MPs should have that kind of assessment before them before they pass this bill. I think that is the best place to take that detailed assessment.

Justice committee  Thank you. In 2003 Canada received recommendations to review its youth justice committee to better comply with the convention. There has not been a response to those recommendations. Going back again, I'm sure there will be further investigation and recommendations by the committee.

Justice committee  Okay. The evidence is clear, and the experience under the current Young Offenders Act with use of alternate measures besides incarceration has been very positive. We have seen some of those detention rates go down. I sympathize with the concerns about young people, but all our members who work with young people tell us the problem is that we don't have enough good programs of the range we need to deal with the kind of young people we're dealing with.

Justice committee  That is correct. Under the current government policy there are statements, in response to other studies of children's rights, that when laws are proposed that affect children, a child rights assessment is done. During the review of Bill C-4 we asked for this. I followed up with individual MPs who asked for this, and as far as I know, no one has seen the child rights assessment that was done.

Justice committee  Good morning. Thank you for this opportunity to appear before you. The Canadian Coalition for the Rights of Children is a national umbrella group that brings together organizations that work with young people and individuals to promote respect for the rights of children. We would like to offer the following suggestions based on the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Canada ratified in 1991.

Justice committee  That is correct.

Justice committee  Not entirely, and that would probably be a more detailed analysis, but it certainly took a strong step forward in that direction. So we were supportive when those steps were made.

Justice committee  In 2003 the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child made a number of recommendations to Canada to better implement the convention, including recommendations for the youth justice system. We would like to see Canada respond to those recommendations. It has not done so in its third and fourth reports.

Justice committee  That is correct.

Justice committee  We did. We were part of those hearings at the UN committee.

Justice committee  Yes, 2003.

Justice committee  That is correct.

Justice committee  In addition to contravening their best interests, where there are concerns about safety and it involves young persons, surely there are other kinds of strategies that could be looked at. If there is a legitimate concern in a particular case about short-term protection, other strategies could be considered.