Thank you for those questions.
I would certainly agree with you that the questions with regard to aboriginal children, who are a direct federal responsibility, are one of the primary concerns we have, but there is also a federal government obligation to look at equitable treatment of children across the country. When the committee did its last review of Canada, there were also concerns raised about children with disabilities and children living in remote regions of the country. While there can be diversity of programs across provinces, the federal government has an obligation—also under the charter, frankly—to look at equitable treatment of children.
On your question about data, my point was that in the government report they are asked to provide data about the situation of children across the country. That's what is missing in the reports. Yes, as a coalition, we can try to put together an alternative report. We are going to try to respond to the government, but we don't have access to all the data. I can tell you that I have good reason to believe they actually have more data than what went in the report about what the real situation is of children across the country. We certainly will be trying to highlight some areas.
One of the distressing ones is the rate of deaths of children under five, and that maternal health has actually decreased in this country. That's a very primary indicator. So we will bring forward some, but really the government should be putting forward that kind of analysis—the situation of children in Canada—as part of its report.
When Canada appeared the first time and when it appeared the second time, the committee asked for that. It asked for better data, and certainly we're hoping to work with the government to make that shift. That's the only way we're going to assess how children are really doing.