Statement made on 19 November 2009 by Senator Roméo Dallaire
Hon. Roméo Antonius Dallaire:
Honourable senators, my question has more to do with children. Tomorrow marks the twentieth anniversary of the signing of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Canada also ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict. In 2007, we also participated in the Paris Principles, with the goal of putting an end to the use of children as child soldiers. In July 2005, the UN Security Council passed resolution 1612, a comprehensive framework for addressing the protection of children affected by armed conflict. Canada agreed with that resolution aimed at eliminating the recruitment and use of child soldiers. Furthermore, in August 2009, the Security Council passed resolution 1882, which, once again, has to do with direct sanctions against governments that use child soldiers.
Would the Leader of the Government in the Senate not agree that Canada signed these conventions and played an active role in ratifying and implementing them?
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