Read this submission from Cheryl Milne.
Here’s the link!
David Asper Centre for Human Rights submission on Bill C273Recommendation: Section 43 of the Criminal Code1 of Canada should be fully repealed through the enactment of Bill C-273.
Introduction
The Asper Centre supports Bill C-273 to repeal section 43 of the Criminal Code (“s. 43”). The use of force to correct and discipline a child is constitutionally untenable. Further, it creates significant confusion in the messaging by the Government of Canada (“Canada”) on the use of force in familial and educational contexts. Domestic law, Canada’s international obligations, the government’s undertaking to implement all of the Calls to Action by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission,2 and the relevant social science evidence all support its removal.
Section 43 is an unconstitutional provision
In our view, section 43 is a violation of a child’s rights under sections 7 and 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (“the Charter”). The Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in Canadian Foundation for Children, Youth and the Law v Canada (Attorney General) 3 is questionable today because of significant developments in the law and in the circumstances and evidence that together fundamentally shift the parameters of the debate.4 The current circumstances render the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision obsolete. Any continued justification for keeping section 43 in law cannot rest on the Court’s legal reasoning or factual foundation in that case. Parliament’s continued sanction of the use of violence on a vulnerable group of individuals is neither necessary nor useful. Rather, section 43 relegates the rights of children in a manner that is not demonstrably justified in Canada’s free and democratic society.