FREDERICTON – As part of the Child Rights Education Week (Nov. 20-23rd), the Office of the Child and Youth Advocate released its 10th State of the Child Report today at an annual breakfast fundraiser hosted by NB Champions for Child Rights Inc.

The report contains an overview of some of the serious challenges facing New Brunswick youth, which includes: discrimination, mental health, poverty, and declining educational engagement.

“This year there is a special emphasis on the child’s right to preserve their identity, and the right of minority and indigenous children to enjoy their culture, to practice their faith and to speak their own language,” said Child, Youth and Senior’s Advocate Norman Bossé.

The report, which focuses on Articles 8 and 30 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, contains more than 200 statistics presented in a Child Rights Indicators Framework. This data is part of the information the provincial government needs to ensure it is helping all young people, and especially the most disadvantaged.

“According to this data, children and youth from our province face numerous challenges,” said Bossé. “For example, the province has not done nearly enough to ensure the preservation of indigenous cultures. First Nations languages are imperilled to the point of crisis. I call upon the government to act immediately with First Nations leaders to preserve New Brunswick’s rich indigeno ...