Category: News

Forty years ago Prime Minister Trudeau’s Liberal government abolished capital punishment in Canada.

That was Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau of course. Four years earlier his government had also abolished the lash in Canada’s prisons.  Those two initiatives placed Canada in the forefront of progressive governments the world over.

But Trudeau père left one last law on the books which still sanctions violence toward Canada’s most vulnerable citizens. It is Section 43 of the Criminal Code, which permits parents to hit their children if they think that’s a reasonable way to discipline them.

It isn’t of course. Extensive research confirms what many Canadians have believed and have practiced for generations. Spanking simply doesn’t work.

In June of this year Dr. Elizabeth Gershoff, Associate Professor at the University of Texas at Austin, and Andrew Grogan-Kaylor, Associate Professor of Social Work at the University of Michigan, published a literature review that includes a wide range of studies on corporal punishment of children. They found that the research has been consistent. Spanking is at best ineffective and at worst harmful to children.

“On this, the 40^th anniversary of the abolition of the death penalty for those who committed murder, it’s time to abolish the legalized hitting of our nation’s children,” said Kathy Lynn, chair of Corinne’s Quest. “Government needs to step up, repeal s.43 of the Criminal Code and give our children the same protections from assault as adults.”

Corinne’s Quest is a national organization dedicated to the repeal of Section 43, and of educating Canadians about the many non-violent alternatives to disciplining children.

In the past various Canadian laws have permitted hitting slaves, servants, sailors, apprentices, prisoners, wives, dogs and children. Children are the only ones left on that list.

“It’s time for Justin Trudeau to complete his father’s legacy and take the initiative to rid our criminal code of the last vestiges or government-sanctioned assault on our children,” said Lynn. “It is a national embarrassment that this law is still on the books.”

She said National Child Day, celebrated on Nov. 20th, would offer the perfect opportunity for Prime Minister Trudeau to step up and announce this government’s intention to repeal this unfair law.

Lynn says there are a number of compelling reasons why this needs to happen.

Section 43 not only condones hitting children under certain circumstances, it also provides a defense to those who do. By any measure of human decency, condoning violence against children is a violation of their human rights. “Violence against children should be against the law, not defined by it”, said Lynn.

In 1991 Canada ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Maintaining a section of the criminal code which permits the legal assault of children means that Canada is not in compliance with the Convention, and the U.N. has reminded Canada of this fact a number of times.

Our government has promised to implement the Truth and Reconciliation Commission report. Its Call to Action #6 calls for the repeal of s.43. This could be the government’s first easy step to fulfilling that commitment.

“There are plenty of high-quality, effective and widely accepted positive parenting strategies to offer children the discipline they need. Canada is not a violent country. We can raise healthy, successful children without ever hitting them.”

A series of meta-analyses have demonstrated that in addition to increases in aggressive behaviour in children, spanking has been associated with increases in mental health problems into adulthood, impaired parent–child relationships, delinquent behaviour and criminal behaviour in adulthood. There is also research showing that a risk that initial “corrective” spanking can progress to child abuse.

The research shows that hitting children is ineffective – instead of teaching children the reasons their behaviour needs to change, it simply causes the child pain and engenders fear. Studies have shown that children need to internalize reasons for behaving in appropriate ways.

Spanking teaches them to behave in order to avoid physical punishment. When the threat of physical punishment is gone, children find no reason to behave appropriately. Spanking can lead to some children considering violence toward others as a problem-solver. A violent attitude can also work to reduce family cohesion.

Editors: For further information or comment, Kathy Lynn can reached at 604-258-9074

Corinne’s Quest

Spanking losing favour among Canadians,

Vanier Institute report suggests

The prestigious Vanier Institute for the Family has just published an article which observes that spanking as a form of discipline is losing favour with Canadian parents because it is ineffective and potentially harmful to children.

The institute, founded in 1965, is an educational organization dedicated to understanding the diversity and complexity of families and the reality of family life in Canada.

The article, written by Kathy Lynn, chair of Corinne’s Quest, details the recent history of Section 43 of the Criminal Code, known as the spanking law, and the many attempts to repeal it, including the 17 private member’s bills that have been tabled since 1994.

The article notes that to date, 51 countries have banned physical punishment of children, and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission has recommended repeal as its sixth Call to Action, stating: “corporal punishment is a relic of a discredited past and has no place in Canadian schools or homes”. The Canadian government has committed to accepting all 94 of the TRC’s Calls to Action.

The article, which is available in both English and French,  can be viewed and downloaded at http://vanierinstitute.ca/canadian-debate-spanking-violence-against-children

Vancouver Sun, August 25, 2016

(http://tinyurl.com/z5d2ool)

Dear editor:

Re:  Douglas Todd: B.C.’s domestic-violence programs based on ‘false’ theory

While resources for any person who is a victim of violence is a concern, the real issue is why are we seeing domestic violence at all?  Where do Canadian adults learn that hitting another person is a way to handle frustration and anger?

At Corinne’s Quest: End Physical Punishment of Children we know from years of research that children who are hit by parents, learn early that violence toward those you love is acceptable and reasonable. As long as we permit parents to hit children they will grow up learning to hit others in their own families.

The answer is to join the 49 countries in the world who have prohibited the hitting of children. In Canada that would involve the Repeal of Section 43 of the criminal code which permits the legal assault of our most vulnerable citizens.

The government has said it will recognize the Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Number 6 calls for the repeal of s.43, Corinne’s Quest calls for the repeal of 43 and the research is clear that hitting children in not effective and carries clear risk factors.

One of these factors is that children learn at their parents’ knees (or over them) that hitting is an appropriate response to conflict.

Let’s tackle the problem by teaching our children that there are many more effective ways of handling stress, frustration and anger than violence. We need to Repeal s.43 and use the many effective, positive forms of child discipline.

Kathy Lynn

Chair, Corinne’s Quest: End Physical Punishment of Children

If Canada’s Minister of Justice is looking for a good starting point to reduce jail populations, she can begin by repealing Section 43 of the Criminal Code.

“The use of force to alter the behaviour of others is at the core of much of the violence which results in jail time,” said Kathy Lynn, chair of Corrine’s Quest, which is a campaign under First Call.

“All the research is crystal clear on this point; assaultive behaviour – be it bullying, beating people up, or hitting children to force them to do as you wish — is harmful.  Hitting children in an attempt to control their behaviour increases the probability of anti-social behaviour, delinquency and ultimately criminality,” she said.

Lynn was responding to reports that Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould had convened a group of judges and other lawyers who recommended she give top priority to reducing jail populations.

Modern parenting practice offers a host of non-violent means of raising children in a disciplined manner, said Lynn. There is absolutely no reason to hit kids. It’s the easy way out for parents who want to believe they are doing the right thing.

Corinne’s Quest is a national organization focused on the repeal of Section 43 of the Criminal Code of Canada, which states:

Every schoolteacher, parent or person standing in the place of a parent is justified in using force by way of correction toward a pupil or child, as the case may be, who is under his care, if the force does not exceed what is reasonable under the circumstances.
 R.S.C., 1985, c .C-4

Canada abolished corporal punishment in our jails 45 years ago and 40 years ago we abolished the death penalty. Section 43 is now the only section of the criminal code which not only condones violence against children, it offers a defence for those strike children.

“Children’s rights are human rights,” said Lynn. “This is 2016. Why are Canada’s laws still advocating violence against children? It should be prohibited by the law, not defined by it.”

On Dec. 31 1991 Canada formally ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, an extremely wide-ranging statement of the standards of treatment for children within our borders. The Canadian government thereby committed to make Canadian laws comply with the convention. Article 19 states:

 States Parties shall take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse, while in the care of parent(s), legal guardian(s) or any other person who has the care of the child.

The UN has repeatedly expressed concerns that Section 43 is still in force, and has urged Canada to repeal it, most recently in 2012.

This solution can be part of the answer to the problems of crowded jails. If we raise children who are less likely to see violence and assault as an appropriate response to misbehavior, we will simply see fewer violent criminals.

“We made these points to the Justice Minister’s staff in a meeting on Ottawa last April, and again in a meeting with the minister herself last month,” said Lynn. We recently forwarded the research on this subject to the minister and her staff so they can have the scientific background to the need to repeal Section 43.

Corinne’s Quest has renewed its plea for Canada to comply with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which it pledged to do in 1991.

The issue arose Monday because Canadian government representatives were at the United Nations to formally announce that Canada will endorse the UN’s Declaration of the rights of Indigenous Peoples, which was enacted in 2007. Canada initially opposed this declaration.

Corinne’s Quest, an organization dedicated to the repeal of Section 43 of the criminal code which permits hitting children, said the UN has repeatedly told Canada that it is out of compliance with the convention of children’s rights because of Section 43. Corinne’s Quest is a campaign under First Call: BC Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition.

“Hundreds of child-serving groups in Canada have been calling for the repeal of Section 43 for more than 25 years,” said Kathy Lynn, chair of Corinne’s Quest. “We find it appalling and frankly, embarrassing that a progressive country like Canada still has a law on its books which permits hitting children. Section 43 not only condones violence toward children, it also prescribes how children can be assaulted and offers a defence to those who do.

“This is an archaic, unfair law, it is an insult to the human rights of children, and Canada’s political leaders should be ashamed to show their faces at the United Nations with this law still on the books.” A total of 49 countries have prohibited all corporate punishment of children.

Lynn further pointed out that her organization’s website has a growing list of individuals and organizations who have signed a declaration opposing physical punishment of children. The list includes child-serving organizations like Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada, the Mental Health Association, Red Cross, and many local Children’s Aid Societies, hospitals and school boards.

Corinne’s Quest has presented a brief to the new federal government urging it to repeal Section 43 of the Criminal Code of Canada without further delay.

“I have been part of many groups over the past 30 years who have urged successive governments to repeal this law that permits corporal punishment of children,” said Kathy Lynn, Chair of Corinne’s Quest. “It is a crucial step for parents in this country who are dedicated to raising their children in a positive and non-violent manner.”

Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada has joined forces with Corinne’s Quest in urging the federal government to repeal what has become known as the “spanking law.”

“We believe that repealing this section of the law is a positive step for Canada’s children, and we applaud the government for promising to do so,” said Owen Charters, President and CEO of Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada.

“We would also like to thank the survivors of residential schools and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for shining light on the need to repeal this law and protect the safety and well-being of all children,” added Charters. The TRC made repeal of Section 43 its sixth Call to Action.

Kathy Lynn welcomes the strong support of one of Canada’s leading youth-serving organizations. “Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada recognizes that repealing this law will be good for all of Canada’s children and we welcome their support. Violence against children should be against the law, not defined by it.”

Lynn further pointed out that her organization’s website has a growing list of individuals and organizations who have signed a declaration opposing physical punishment of children. The list includes child-serving organizations like Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada, the Mental Health Association, Red Cross, and many local Children’s Aid Societies, hospitals and school boards.