Thank you, Madam Chair.
I would like to thank all the witnesses for being here this morning. It's invaluable.
Unfortunately, I have not read the provision that Mr. Sikkema or Mr. Zekveld proposed adding to the Criminal Code, section 43.1. From what I understand, they're going to send it to us. I am interested and look forward to reading it.
I would like to hear what you have to say on this issue, Professor Durrant. I appreciated your testimony. What you said made sense. I wish I had an hour with you instead of five minutes. I would like to hear more from you about what we should do.
I am concerned about the fact that the use of force is often necessary to control children. Having raised children, and my wife being a teacher, I know how it goes. However, I understand that the current section 43 allows for the use of force to control or discipline a child, but in a reasonable manner. Now that we're about to remove it, I think we have to be very careful. I'm not saying it's not a good idea, but I'm hesitant. I think we have to be careful, because we're talking about criminalizing behaviour. We are talking about a mother or father who could eventually be sent to prison for something they did.
As a result, I feel I have to be careful, and I'd like to hear your opinion. Would it not be a good idea to amend section 43 by adding a provision that would clarify what is allowed and what is not, based on previous court decisions? That would ensure that teachers and parents could do their jobs as teachers and parents. Whether this new provision is numbered 43.1 or 43(b) matters little—to me, the numbering is a detail.
As far as I'm concerned, it's quite clear that hitting a child with a stick is not acceptable. It's not even debatable. You gave the example, going back to 1916 or 1816, of a teacher who ended up killing a child. That's obviously not acceptable. However, let's set aside the extreme cases; otherwise, it will never end. In your opinion, would it not be a better idea to clarify, in section 43, what can and cannot be done with respect to the use of force against children rather than to blindly eliminate section 43?