NDP call for Child and Youth Advocate for Nova Scotia

SYDNEY -- Today, NDP Leader Gary Burrill will meet with volunteers from the Cape Breton-Victoria Child Advocacy Society. This fall, the NDP Caucus tabled legislation that would create a Child and Youth Advocate for Nova Scotia. The office would be responsible for education and advocacy work on behalf of the province’s children and young people.

“The McNeil Liberals need to realize the effect of decisions that deny children basic needs like healthy food and safe shelter,” said Burrill, who is in Cape Breton this week to talk with community groups. “A Child and Youth Advocate would review government programs and policies to make sure children get the care and opportunities they deserve.”

Nova Scotia has the third-highest provincial child poverty rate in the country. Cape Breton is home to 10 of the 18 communities in Nova Scotia with a child poverty rate over 30 per cent.

“Nova Scotia is out of line with other Canadian jurisdictions by not having such an office and our children are being short-changed,” said Murdoch Moore, Board Chair for the Cape Breton-Victoria Child Advocacy Society. “An independent advocate office could make a big difference. We believe the office has an important proactive role to play as well.”

Nova Scotia, PEI, and Quebec are the only provinces that do not have a Child and Youth Advocate office.

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