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National Missing Children's Day

Ottawa , May 25, 2005 -- Today, on National Missing Children's Day, the Honourable Anne McLellan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada, released the National Missing Children Services (NMCS) 2004 Reference Report.

National Missing Children's Day is held every year on May 25th. It is a day to draw attention to the thousands of Canadian children who go missing each year, and highlight the success of the Government of Canada’s Our Missing Children (OMC) program in returning missing children to their rightful guardians.

“The Our Missing Children program underscores the Government of Canada’s commitment to protect the most vulnerable of our society -- our children,” said Anne McLellan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness. “We will continue to build on this important initiative with tools such as the proposed DNA Missing Persons Index, currently undergoing national consultations.”

The 2004 Reference Report highlights the many successes OMC partners and Canadian law enforcement agencies have had over the past year, including:

• Eighty-six percent (86%) of all missing children who were entered into the Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC) system were found within a week.
• Some of the children who were returned to their lawful guardians were helped through the work done by provinces, territories and the federal Department of Justice pursuant to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of InternationalChild Abduction.
• Seventy-four (74) missing children were recovered by Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officers across Canada in 2004. A total of 1,359 children have been reunited with their parent or legal guardian at the Canadian border since 1986.
• Fifty-one (51) international child abduction cases were concluded by Foreign Affairs Canada (FAC). Since joining the OMC program in 1996, FAC has been successful in concluding 378 international child abduction cases from Hague and non-Hague countries.
• In 2004 the OMC program partners worked on 130 Canadian cases, 348 American cases, and 109 international cases.

The OMC program is a collaborative effort of the RCMP, CBSA, FAC and Justice Canada. Since 1988, 6,374 children reported missing to police have been located or recovered because of the collective efforts of the program partners.

The Our Missing Children program can be contacted by telephone at (613) 993-1525 or toll-free at 1-877-318-3576.

See also:

• National Missing Children's Day Backgrounder
• 2004 Report

For more information:

RCMP
Media Relations
(613) 993-2999

Foreign Affairs Canada
Media Relations
(613) 995-1874

Canada Border Services Agency
Media Relations
(613) 957-6500

Department of Justice
Media Relations
(613) 957-4207