On May 1, 2023, on the recommendation of the Ministry of Attorney General, the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario appointed Dianne Carter (“Dianne”) as the Children’s Lawyer for Ontario.

Dianne gracefully accepted our request for an interview and had in depth conversations on various important topics including international trends around children’s rights, importance of including voice of a child in decision-making and her vision for the role of Children’s lawyer.

Dianne was raised by her immigrant parents, who were founders of Jamaican Canadian Association in Toronto, which has actively advocated for immigrant and racialized people’s rights over the last 50+ years. While growing up,

her home was a ‘community hub’. She recalls being the fly on the wall and listening to stories of various community members, as her parents tirelessly helped them in navigating challenges they faced.

This inspired Dianne to complete her Masters degree in Social Work and she picked up the thread of community development for supporting the ‘priority communities’. It also built the foundation of diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism to her future extensive career. Her grassroots level work with the diverse low-income communities further led her path to the law school. She graduated from the University of Ottawa law school and was called to the Bar in 1997 with motivation to advocating for people with intersectional vulnerabilities.

Dianne joined the OCL from her role as Portfolio Director in the Civil Law Division at the Ministry of the Attorney General. In this role, she provided leadership to a team of Legal Directors who provided legal services to several government ministries including Education, Colleges and Universities, Health, Long-term Care, Children, Community and Social Services and the Solicitor General.

Prior to re-joining the Civil Law Division in 2018, Dianne was the Executive Director and Chief Legal Counsel at the Ontario Human Rights Commission. In that role, Dianne led the development of a 5-year strategic plan involving consultation with over 300 people representing over 80 organizations. Dianne also held a number of counsel positions through her 25-year Ontario Public Service career and worked as a lawyer in private practice with family law as one of her areas of practice.

Dianne brings the human rights lens to her role as Children’s Lawyer. She believes that the mandate of the Children’s Lawyer gives her an opportunity to create positive impact on children’s lives.

These are the excerpts of Archana’s conversation with Dianne.

Archana: What are the important trends around children’s rights – nationally and internationally – that give you hope? Why?

Dianne: With its almost universal ratification, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) has proven to be a catalyst for law and policy reform, litigation, and advocacy at the domestic and regional level. In some instances, it has been incorporated into national legislation and there have even been recent efforts to “constitutionalize” the UNCRC in some jurisdictions (e.g., Scotland).

The increasing engagement of children, at both the national and international levels, in matters that affect them, also gives reason for hope. For example, children and youth all over the world have mobilized to protest climate change and are actively engaging in various climate justice initiatives. This represents an encouraging trend towards children taking ownership of their right to be heard, associate and express themselves freely to demand greater climate action accountability. In recent years, more attention has been paid to giving meaningful recognition to the voice of the child in decisions about them, consistent with the UNCRC.

Domestically, greater recognition of children’s rights has been seen through reference or incorporation of the UNCRC into new legislation. In addition to the previous incorporation of the UNCRC into the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) (preamble) and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (indirectly in the application section), the UNCRC and UNDRIP are now referenced in the preamble to An Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth, and families. The UNCRC is also specifically mentioned in the preamble to the CYFSA and informed the legislative amendments to the 2021 Divorce Act.

Legislators and the courts are placing greater reliance on the UNCRC.

There has also been increasing recognition of the importance of children’s participation, and of children as rights-bearers more generally, by Canadian courts as evidenced in a number of significant appellate and other decisions.

Another hopeful development is the introduction by the federal government of a Child Rights Impact Assessment tool and online course intended to assist public officials at all levels of government in considering the impacts of new laws, policies, programs or other initiatives on the rights of children – see https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/csj-sjc/cria-erde/index.html.

In June 2023, federal, provincial, and territorial (FPT) ministers responsible for human rights attended a 2-day meeting where they discussed priorities related to Canada’s international human rights obligations, including the recommendations Canada received in 2022 from the UN committee on the Rights of the Child and efforts being taken to implement best practices and priorities across Canadian jurisdictions. In advance of the FPT meeting, Ministers had the opportunity to speak with representatives from Indigenous groups, civil society organizations and human rights commissions about the progress and implementation of human rights in Canada and remaining challenges. They heard about a range of human rights related topics, such as diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism measures; the rights of persons with disabilities; domestic implementation of the UNDRIP and the UNCRC; strengthening implementation of human rights in Canada; and the important role of independent human rights institutions/ commissions. The engagement of non-governmental stakeholders in the discussions prior to the FPT Ministers’ meeting is a positive step, suggesting greater recognition of the importance of meaningful consultation in human rights implementation.

There is greater recognition of the child’s right to be heard as well as of their other rights under the UNCRC in general.

This means that children are more likely to be recognized as independent rights bearers who can have agency in important decisions affecting their lives. Treating children as individuals and considering their wishes, ideas and solutions provides hope for the engagement of the next generation.

Archana: What is the importance of including the voice of a child(ren) in decision-making that impacts them?

 Dianne: It is important to include the voice of a child(ren) in decision-making from multiple perspectives includes the following:

• It acknowledges children as individual rights-holders, and not just as extensions of the adults around them.
• It recognizes the centrality/expertise of children in their own
• It recognizes the agency of children and the inherent value of their perspectives – which can lead to greater satisfaction with the process and “buy-in” re the outcome. It increases the accountability of decision-makers and mitigates Research clearly suggests that children’s inclusion in the post-separation decision-making process is important to the promotion of their well-being.” (Ontario (Children’s Lawyer) v. Ontario (Information and Privacy Commissioner), 2018 ONCA 559, at para. 62), see also B.J.G. v. D.L.G., 2010 YKSC 44.

Dianne describes the Benefits to such decision-making process that obtaining information of all sorts from children, including younger children, on a wide range of topics relevant to the dispute, can lead to better decisions for children that have a greater chance of working successfully. They have important information to offer about such things as schedules, including time spent with each parent, that work for them, extra-curricular activities and lessons, vacations, schools, and exchanges between their two homes and how these work best. They can also speak about what their life is like from their point of view, including the impact of the separation on them as well as the impact of the conduct of their parents.

Receiving children’s input early in the process, and throughout as appropriate, can reduce conflict by focusing or refocusing matters on the children and what is important to them. It can reduce the intensity and duration of the conflict and enhance conciliation between parents so that they can communicate more effectively for the benefit of their child. When children are actively involved in problem solving and given recognition that their ideas are important and are being heard, they are empowered, and their confidence and self-esteem grow. They feel that they have been treated with dignity. In addition, children’s participation in the decision-making process correlates positively with their ability to adapt to a newly reconfigured family.

Dianne states that there are Short- and Long-Term Adverse Consequences of Exclusion for Children. Excluding children and adolescents may have immediate ad- verse effects such as: feeling ignored, isolated and lonely; experiencing anxiety and fear; being sad, depressed, and withdrawn; being confused; being angry at being left out; and having difficulty coping with stress.

Further, longer-term adverse effects of not consulting children and adolescents may include loss of closeness in parent-child relationships; continuing resentment if living arrangements do not meet their needs in time or structure; less satisfaction with parenting plans, less compliance, more “voting with their feet”; and longing for more or less time with the non-resident parent.

Archana: What is your vision for the Office of the Children’s Lawyer?

Dianne: I envision an office that works with highly skilled counsel to represent the voice of the child in a holistic manner, providing representation that addresses the child’s lived experiences in an intersectional manner.

I would like to see OCL panel members who are well versed in the law, using a human rights lens, speaking to our clients about the intersecting impacts on them that operate systemically and individually – i.e., racism, xenophobia, gender identity, family violence, learning needs, etc.

I would like to see the OCL enable our panel members to advocate in ways that will help make the child’s wishes a reality, wherever possible, using tools that recognize safety planning and the least intrusive options.

I would like to see the OCL continue to recognize trends and take steps to help address systemic issues impacting on children.

That we promote greater recognition of the interdependence of children’s rights and the need to consider the interests of the whole child, including the intersections with other areas of law (criminal, immigration, health, education, etc.) – developing greater expertise in these areas.

In her personal life, Dianne loves listening to live music and attends many concerts with her husband. She is the mother of two grown up daughters, which she believes to be her most important job. She is keen on focusing on physical health and well-being as she believes that maintaining her fitness gives her the energy to do the work.

Dianne underlines the importance in prioritizing self-care and surrounding yourself with good relationships with friends and colleagues to sustain the high demands of work.

From her extensive experience with community work and public service, Dianne raises the importance of recognizing work of non-lawyers and need for mentoring for lawyers and non-lawyers.

Humor keeps Dianne going and with a wide smile on her face she mentions that “I share laugh with somebody every day”.

By: Archana Medhekar, Certified Family Law Specialist and practicing Family Law Lawyer-Mediator