| NOVEMBER 20 IS UNIVERSAL CHILDREN’S DAY |
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| Sunday, 19 November 2006 19:00 |
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QUEEN’S PARK, November 20, 2006 – Nepean-Carleton MPP Lisa MacLeod today spoke in the Ontario Legislature in honour of Universal Children’s Day: “Since 1954, the UN and UNESCO have recognized November 20 as universal Child Day ‘to be observed as a day of worldwide fraternity and understanding between children’. In Canada, it was initiated by Canada’s first female Prime Minister, Kim Campbell, in 1993 through the Child Day Act to ensure that we as legislators are aware of our duty to protect the basic human rights of children in our country and that we celebrate how children enrich our lives. “As I drafted my remarks today, I was assisted by my 20-month-old daughter, Victoria, who insisted she be able to bang on my computer while I wrote. Talk about enriching my life. Looking at her big blue eyes, I saw with absolute clarity why we as legislators have a very special obligation to care for our province’s children and, in particular, children in the most vulnerable of circumstances. “I point this out because it is important that when we make promises to children as legislators—whether it is to eradicate child poverty in 10 years or to fund autism treatment to children over the age of six or to appoint an independent children’s advocate—those promises must be kept. Impressionable children rely on us. We are their protectors. “I urge all members of this assembly to think of how we can help better serve our province’s children. “If I may conclude by reading from the preamble of the UN Declaration of the Rights of the Child: ‘Mankind owes to the child the best it has to give.’” - 30 - For more information, please contact: Stephen Gilman, Executive Assistant Phone: 613-823-2116 Cell: 613-297-2051 |