Prime Minister Stephen Harper today welcomed the launch of the Canadian Centre for Child Protection’s new website: www.missingkids.ca, with the aim to reduce the number of children who go missing in Canada every year.

“Each year, more than 50,000 children are reported missing in Canada,” Harper said. “Our Government is taking decisive action and working closely with groups such as the Canadian Centre for Child Protection to safeguard the most vulnerable and innocent members of our society – our children. This website constitutes an important step towards keeping Canadian children safe.”

The website provides vital information and assistance to parents of missing children. It will act as a portal where communities and law enforcement can immediately access and/or share information on missing or abducted children, including Amber Alerts. The website has four primary functions:
 

1. To assist in the location of missing children;
2. To provide educational materials to help prevent children from going missing;
3. To be an information resource centre on missing children; and
4. To coordinate efforts and assist stakeholders in the delivery of missing children services.

The Canadian Centre for Child Protection is a non-profit, charitable organization dedicated to the personal safety of all children. Its goal is to reduce child victimization by providing programs and services to the Canadian public. Since 2006, the Canadian government has passed a number of measures to protect Canadian children, and to hold criminals accountable, including:

• Raising the age of consent to 16 years, to better protect 14- and 15-year olds from sexual predators;
• Strengthening the National Sex Offender Registry and the National DNA Data Bank, to better protect our children and our communities from sexual predators;
• Strengthening measures to protect children from online sexual exploitation; and
• Limiting the granting of pardons, to better reflect the severity of the crimes committed, especially sexual offences against children.

The website is being launched one day prior to National Missing Children’s Day – a day to commemorate missing children who have been found, remember those who have been victims of crime and continue efforts to find those who are still missing.