Thank you, Madam Chair.
I, too, am troubled by this last-minute development from the governing party, saying they will now introduce new legislation around corporal punishment. We haven't seen it at all. We're trying to have a fulsome debate here at the justice committee, and now we have a promise of some new legislation that might come in down the road at some time. The timing doesn't contribute to a good, productive discussion, and I'm deeply troubled by that. The government has had lots of time to think about this in response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's report, which has been with us for many years, yet, at the last minute, they're dropping it on us and telling us they're not going to support common-sense amendments that both parties are putting forward.
I want to speak about Mr. Fortin's motion and his talk in support of it.
I agree with much of what he said. However, I believe that the competing amendment CPC-1 is better, in that it codifies a very thoughtful decision from the Supreme Court of Canada of 20 years ago, which explained what section 43 does and does not do. I think, with that clarification, people can rest assured that section 43, which is itself a codification of the common law defence against charges of assault for teachers and parents....
I think it's a shame that Parliament at that time did not introduce new legislation to amend section 43 to further explain this. I suspect that, had that amendment been made in response to the Supreme Court of Canada decision of 20 years ago, the discussion around the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's recommendation number 6 might have been quite different. Without that amendment and without reading in the clarification from the Supreme Court of Canada, many people have been confused about the difference. As one person said, it does not adequately distinguish between physical punishment and physical abuse. What happened at residential schools was physical abuse, not physical punishment. That's what the Truth and Reconciliation Commission recommendation number 6 talks about. Had section 43 been clarified in response to the Supreme Court of Canada decision, I think that discussion would have been much different.
CPC-1, which, hopefully, we'll get to, basically goes step by step through what the Supreme Court of Canada said and captures all the main highlights. CPC-1 also makes a clear reference to schoolteachers in part 4. That is in response to evidence we received from educators here at this committee. I think CPC-1 is more responsive to testimony that we received at this committee and to jurisprudence that has developed around section 43.
Thank you.