Recent News
MACY hosting new webinar series on children’s disability rights
Dr. Richard Antonelli will appear in MACY’s webinar on Oct. 20.
The Manitoba Advocate for Children and Youth (MACY) is hosting a new webinar series this October, following the release of a special report on Children’s disABILITY Services in spring.
The new series, Achieving Substantive Equality for Children with Disabilities in Manitoba, will offer three webinars to the general public. The webinars will be free, though registration is required.
All webinar participants who fill out evaluation surveys will receive MACY certificates of completion, which may be used for learning credits through some professional regulatory bodies.
Manitoba Advocate Releases ReconciliACTION Framework
September 29, 2021
Statement from the Manitoba Advocate for Children and Youth in honour of National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
On September 30, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation offers an opportunity to remember and honour survivors of residential schools and the thousands of children who were forcibly taken from their parents and never returned home.
Between the 1870s and the late 1990s, children were made to feel inferior and were subjected to abuse at residential schools because of their ancestry, their language, and their culture. Children like Phyllis Webstad from the Sswecem’c Xgat’tem First Nation were stripped of their clothing in an intentional and systematic effort to inflict cultural genocide. In telling her story, Webstad helped create Orange Shirt Day, which we honour on September 30 as well.
More recently, the effects of the Sixties Scoop, the child welfare system, and ongoing inequities in social determinants of health continue to negatively impact Indigenous families. Discrimination affecting Indigenous Peoples in Canada is ongoing.
While we must face the uncomfortable truths at the root of Canada’s history, we must also work to acknowledge and address the harms and children’s rights abuses that are a shameful part of our present and past.
THE RIGHT TO BE HEARD: A SPECIAL REPORT ON THE MANITOBA ADVOCATE FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH’S YOUTH LISTENING TOUR, 2021
The Right to Be Heard is a special report featuring the thoughts and opinions of hundreds of Manitoba youth who discussed community issues and proposed solutions for a better future. The findings come from a province-wide Youth Listening Tour and online survey, which were hosted by staff from the Manitoba Advocate for Children and Youth (MACY) in 2020. The purpose of the Youth Listening Tour was to raise awareness of children’s rights while also gathering information about the challenges, priorities, and solutions youth identify in their communities and beyond.
Youth raised a variety of diverse, but often related issues they face in their communities, including substance use, mental health and well being, poverty, violence, and racism and discrimination. Overwhelmingly, youth spoke about the need for more investments in accessible mental health and addictions programs and the need for more recreational activities that provide healthy opportunities and community belonging.
This special report presents governments and decision-makers in Manitoba with the opportunity to hear the voices of youth and let these contributions guide them to make informed decisions about their strategic priorities and funding.
We are always here to listen. If you are a youth that did not get a chance to participate in the Listening Tour and would like to share your thoughts, please take our survey
