Justice committee  Yes, thank you. I think it's important that we're all aware that parents, teachers, early childhood educators, group home workers, youth care staff and everyone who cares for another person have a legal duty of care. If a parent did not put a child in a car seat, did not pull a child out of traffic or did not pull a child's hand back from the stove, they could be charged with negligence because they have a required legal duty of care.

Justice committee  —people are shocked.

Justice committee  No, it's not. It's corrective force, section 43—force by way of correction, which means punishment. Every other law like it around the world has been worded with things like “chastisement” or “punishment”. They've used those words. For some reason, when they codified Canada's Criminal Code, they used the word “correction”.

Justice committee  We absolutely need to recognize children as human beings. I think comments about parental authority.... Parents don't lose their authority when they stop hitting children. They actually gain more authority. They gain more respect. We've learned from many studies that when children are punished in this way, they are afraid.

Justice committee  No. Of course, any severe violence against a child is an assault. If you're worried about two fingers tapping a hand, I'd like to ask you this: Has that child turned two or are they turning two tomorrow? If they're turning two tomorrow, that is already against the law. An 18-month-old or anybody below two years old cannot be hit in any way.

Justice committee  That is already against the law, as is hitting a child in frustration.

Justice committee  No, I do not. I think that's a terrible idea. The reason is this. This is the human rights committee. This is a committee that makes decisions on the basis of universal human rights. Children are the only people who are not protected from assault. They are the only ones with this exemption.

Justice committee  Yes. Absolutely. Children need protection. That's what this is all about. What we don't want is to have them hit, slapped, kicked and punched, which is what happens in real life. Our legal system operates on the principle of discretion. Police have discretion. Prosecutors have discretion.

Justice committee  Thank you very much.

Justice committee  Hello, and thank you for the invitation to speak with you today about this very important bill. I'll quickly introduce myself. I'm a developmental psychologist and a retired professor in the college of medicine at the University of Manitoba. I've spent my 34-year career studying the corporal punishment of children.