On
November 20 wear a blue ribbon
OPSEU and CUPE have come
together for an outreach campaign on National Child Day, Friday, November
20.
On this day, OPSEU and
CUPE members in the Children’s Aid Societies and Child Treatment sectors
will wear a blue ribbon to highlight the funding crisis affecting their
services and the thousands of children, youth and families that depend on
them.
Blue lapel ribbons and
special message bookmarks have been shipped to the highest-ranking of
OPSEU’s 48 bargaining units in CAS and Child Treatment.
Bargaining units are asked
to wear the ribbons and to organize an outreach event, such as a community
walk or a table at a local mall to distribute a small quantity of the
ribbons and bookmarks to the public.
On November 20, 1989, the
United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the
Child.
Canada ratified the
Convention in 1991.
In 1993, the federal
government designated Nov. 20 of each year as National Child Day in order to
promote awareness of the Convention which spells out the basic rights
children everywhere are entitled to: the right to survival; to develop to
the fullest; to protection from harmful influences, abuse and exploitation;
and to participate fully in family, cultural and social life.
In ratifying that
decision, Canada promised children the right to be free of harm and to live
and grow to their full potential.
We’re not keeping that
promise in Ontario.
Children and youth are at risk because the provincial
government refuses to properly fund the child protection and mental
health services they need. Children are suffering, and some may even die
because they aren’t getting timely access to these vital services.
Agencies lack the capacity to intervene early when
problems first arise. Left unattended, these problems only escalate and
the impacts are felt in the family and in the community.
Tell Premier Dalton
McGuinty to fix the funding crisis so vulnerable children and youth will be
safe and get the help they need before it’s too late. Email him at
www.premier.gov.on.ca and click on the ‘contact’ link.
