All human beings possess intrinsic rights and freedoms that ensure their
protection and development - and all human beings are equal in worth and
dignity. These are the opening words of the Charter of Human Rights
and Freedoms. The object of theYouth Protection Actis to
safeguard similar rights for young people.
However, these ideals are sometimes threatened by discrimination, harassment,
exploitation, exclusion and, for children in difficulty, deficiencies in the services
to which they are entitled.
The mission of the Commission is to see that human rights are promoted and respected
in Québec. This website provides an overview of the current situation and
describes the recourses available to people whose rights have been infringed.
News
Children’s online privacy RELEASE OF A NEW REPORT
The Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse is pleased to present the Discussion paper of the Working Group on the protection of children’s online privacy.
There Ought To Be a Law: Protecting Children’s Online Privacy in the 21st Century was produced by the Working Group of Canadian Privacy Commissioners, which includes the Commission de l’accès à l’information du Québec, and members of the Canadian Council of Provincial Child & Youth Advocates, of which the Commission is a member.
This report, which calls for changes to several laws to protect the privacy of children and youth in the age of Internet, was released on November 19, 2009, at an international conference on the rights of the child, in Ottawa.
THE COMMISSION CONDEMNS THE SOCIAL PROFILING OF MONTRÉAL’S HOMELESS
In an opinion published on November 10, 2009, the Commission urges the city of Montreal to repeal two by-laws that target the homeless. It also calls on the Montreal police (Service de police de la Ville de Montréal) to change its institutional standards and policies that have a discriminatory impact on street people.
Providing examples and statistics, the Commission’s opinion concludes that the social profiling of Montréal’s homeless is discriminatory and contravenes the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms. Moreover, in the view of the Commission, the excessive use of the courts to deal with the homeless is the result of targeted police practices aimed at removing them from the public space, rather than a neutral and impartial enforcement of the law.
The Commission makes 14 recommendations to different levels of government and to the Montréal police, and outlines detailed proposals for a policy on homelessness.
Several documents are available: the opinion (in French only), an executive summary, the recommendations of the Commission, fact sheets, and a news release.
An opportunity for 14 to 25-year olds to be heard CONSULTATION ON RACIAL PROFILING AND ITS CONSEQUENCES
On September 17, 2009, the Commission launches an important Consultation which will allow racialized youth aged 14 to 25 to speak out about their racial profiling experiences. The Consultation will also offer institutions and community organizations a forum to identify solutions to counter this form of racial discrimination.
Until November 30, 2009, the Commission is calling more specifically on youth to share how they experience – or have experienced – racial profiling, whether at school, in public spaces or with the child and youth protection system. Submissions from parents, teachers and other people who have witnessed racial profiling incidents involving racialized youth will also be accepted
The second edition of this book is now available on-line. It reviews the history of Québec from 1760 to the present, with the objective of demystifying commonly-held ideas about Aboriginal people. It is also intended to promote better relations between Quebecers and Aboriginals.
The book answers many of the questions that underlie old and new prejudice about Aboriginal people. Are Aboriginal societies primitive? Could white people have survived in Canada without their help? Were they really conquered? Did they sign treaties and alliances with the European nations? Today, are they better treated by the system, with more rights than Quebecers? Do they have separate rights that can be reconciled with the right to equal treatment? Is it true that they claim possession of almost all of Québec’s territory?
The on-line diffusion of this book has been made possible with the financial assistance of the Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Quebec Region.
Addresses
(63 Kb)
News
To get information: 
(157 Kb)
On September 17, 2009, the Commission launches an important Consultation which will allow racialized youth aged 14 to 25 to speak out about their racial profiling experiences. The Consultation will also offer institutions and community organizations a forum to identify solutions to counter this form of racial discrimination.
