UN Committee on the Rights of the Child - List of Issues

Canada's 2nd Report  -  34th Session of the Committee

List of points : Canada. 03/07/2003.
CRC/C/Q/CAN/2

(List of Issues)

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Convention Abbreviation: CRC
COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD
34th Session
Pre-sessional Working Group
10 - 13 June 2003

Under this section the State party is requested to submit in written form additional and updated information, if possible, before 6 August 2003.

A. Data and statistics (if available)

4. Please provide disaggregated data (by gender, age groups, Aboriginal children and other minority groups, urban or rural areas) covering the period between 2000 and 2002 on the:
a) number and proportion of children under 18 living in the State party;
b) number and proportion of children belonging to minority, refugee and internally displaced groups.

2. In light of article 4 of the Convention, please provide additional disaggregated data for 2001- 2003, on budget allocations and trends (in percentages of the federal, provincial and territorial budgets or GDP) allocated to the implementation of the Convention, evaluating also the priorities for budgetary expenditures given to the following:
a) education (different types of education, i.e. pre-primary, primary and secondary education);
b) health care (different types of health services, i.e. primary health care, vaccination programmes, adolescent health care and other health care services for children);
c) programmes and services for children with disabilities;
d) support programmes for families;
e) support for children living below the poverty line;
f) the protection of children who are in need of alternative care including the support of care institutions;
g) programmes and activities for the prevention of and protection from child abuse, child sexual exploitation and child labour;
h) programmes and services for street children and abandoned children;
i) juvenile justice.

Please also indicate the expenses of the private sector, in particular for health and education.

3. With reference to children deprived of a family environment and separated from parents, please provide disaggregated data (by age and gender) for the last three years on the number of children:
a) separated from their parents;
b) placed in institutions;
c) placed with foster families;
d) adopted domestically or through inter-country adoptions.

4. Please specify the number of children with disabilities, up to the age of 18, disaggregated by sex and age (with specific data for Aboriginal children) covering the period 2000 - 2002:
a) living with their families;
b) in institutions;
c) attending regular schools; and
d) attending special schools.

5. With reference to child abuse, please provide disaggregated data (by age, gender and types of violations reported) over the period 2000 - 2002 on the:
a) number of individual complaints received per year in the last three years;
b) number and percentage of reports which have resulted in either a court decision or other types of follow-up.

6. Please provide disaggregated data (including by gender, age, and urban/rural areas, as well as, if available for Aboriginal children and other minority groups) covering the period between 2000 and 2002 on:
a) the enrolment and completion rates in percentages of the relevant group in pre-primary schools, in primary schools and in secondary schools;
b) number and percentage of drop-outs and repetitions;
c) ratio teacher per children.

7. Please provide disaggregated statistical data (including by gender, age, region, including Aboriginal children and those living on reserves) on adolescent health, including early pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), mental health, suicide, drug, alcohol and tobacco abuse as well as rates of infant and child mortality and of malnutrition covering the period between 2000 and 2002. Also, please provide numbers of health professionals working in the health care services for children.

8. Please provide disaggregated statistical data (including by gender, age groups, region) on children infected or affected by HIV/AIDS, as well as information on programs implemented to address the problems of these children.

9. Please provide appropriate disaggregated data (including by gender, age and type of crime) covering the period between 2000 and 2002, in particular on the number of:
a) minors, who have allegedly committed a crime, reported to the police;
b) minors who have been sentenced and type of punishment or sanctions related to offences including length of deprivation of liberty;
c) number of children charged under the Criminal Code;
d) detention facilities for juvenile delinquents and their capacity;
e) minors detained in these facilities and minors detained in adult facilities;
f) minors kept in pre-trail detention and the average length of their detention;
g) reported cases of abuse and maltreatment of children occurred during their arrest and detention.

10. With reference to special protection measures, please provide statistical data (including by gender, age, urban/rural areas) per year between 2000 and 2002 on:
a) the number of children involved in sexual exploitation, including prostitution, pornography and trafficking;
b) the number of children involved in sexual exploitation who received rehabilitation treatments;
c) the number of children involved in child labour who are under 16;
d) the number of street children.

B. General Measures of Implementation

1. Please provide information on the important initiatives relevant to children adopted after 1997, noted in paragraph 9 of the Report.

2. Please provide additional information on the current areas of priority attention identified by the Secretary of State for children and youth, referred to in para. 14 of the State party report.

3. Please provide information on the reasons some of the recommendations contained in the Committee's previous observations (CRC/C/15/Add.37) have not yet been fully implemented, in particular those related to: para. 18, referring to the possibility of withdrawing reservations; para. 20, with respect to data collection; para. 23 related to ensuring that the general principles are reflected in domestic law; para. 24, related to implementation of art. 22; para. 25 suggesting the review of penal legislation allowing corporal punishment.

4. Please indicate whether the Convention on the Rights of the Child has been invoked directly in courts, and if it has, please provide examples of such cases.

5. Please give information on the implementation and content of any child rights policy and explain how such policies are developed. Please also explain how the Convention's implementation is coordinated across the action of different relevant ministries, including at provincial and territorial levels. Is there a single body with overall responsibility for coordination? If so, what are its mandate, powers and budget?

6. Please provide information on the drafting process and content of the national plan of action for children being prepared in response to "A World Fit for Children" following the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Children. Please also explain implementation processes and modalities of monitoring and evaluating its implementation.

7. Please provide additional information on the mandate of the Canadian Human Rights Commissions with regard to monitoring the implementation of the Convention and receiving individual complaints by children.

8. Please describe measures undertaken to strengthen data collection mechanisms and procedures with regard to the implementation of the whole Convention.

9. Please describe measures undertaken to make widely known the discussion of the initial report with the Committee members and the concluding observations adopted by the Committee following the consideration of the initial report.

10. Please provide information on efforts to provide training, awareness and information on the Convention and on human rights in general.

11. Please provide information on legislation, policies, programmes and monitoring of programmes to counter discrimination, including against girls, minority groups and other vulnerable or marginalised groups of children.

12. Please indicate the issues affecting children that the State party considers to be priorities requiring the most urgent attention with regard to the implementation of the Convention.

Part II

Please provide the Committee with copies of the text of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in all official languages of the State party as well as in other languages or dialects, when available. If possible, please submit these texts in electronic form.

Part III

Under this section, the State party is to briefly (3 pages maximum) up-date the information provided in its report with regard to:
- New bills or enacted legislation
- New institutions
- Newly implemented policies
- Newly implemented programmes and projects and their scope.

Part IV

The following is a preliminary list of major issues (that does not contain issues already covered in Part I) that the Committee may take up during the dialogue with the State party. They do not require written answers. This list is not exhaustive as other issues might be raised in the course of the dialogue.

• The federal structure of the State party and the impact it has on the implementation of the Convention and the role of the Charter on Rights and Freedoms in that respect;
• The State party's strategy to significantly strengthen the Convention's overall implementation with particular attention to the general principles of the Convention (non-discrimination (art.2), the best interests of the child (art.3), the right to life, survival and development (art. 6) and the right of the child to be heard (art.12)).
• The process of preparing the National Plan of Action, and progress made, following the commitment undertaken at the United Nations Special Session on Children in May 2002.
• Birth registration, with a particular regard to minority groups and children in rural areas.
• Corporal punishment in the home, in schools and other institutions.
• 6. Progress made in strengthening access of all children to and the quality of health services, national health insurance, including hospitals and mental health.
• Respect for the rights of children with disabilities, including availability of health and education services, assistance with transport, access to buildings, discrimination.
• Adequate standard of living.
• 9. Education, including with regard to the quality of education, enrolment in primary (compulsory) and secondary schools, the access of vulnerable groups to education.
• Alcohol, drug and tobacco abuse.
• Child Abuse and Neglect.
• Institutionalisation and alternative care mechanisms.
• Exploitation of children, including trafficking of children.
• Street children.
• Juvenile justice.
• Situation of refugee children and family reunification.

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Geneva, Switzerland