Mr. Speaker, I am receiving letters from concerned constituents about section 43 of the Criminal Code, the section that allows parents to administer reasonable corporal punishment to their children. The Minister of Justice indicated that he is considering the matter.
Two studies his department has paid for advocate abolition of this basic parental right. One of these studies says: "It is almost impossible to isolate corporal punishment as a causative factor" of increased aggression, yet this study still advocated the repeal of section 43. Why, I wonder, when there is no proof that reasonable correction is harmful?
Interest groups with a leftist social agenda have the ear of the government. Together they would replace the authority of the parent with the authority of the government. Parents have a right to be concerned about this disturbing trend.
The government should be looking at ways to enhance the authority and responsibility of the family, not trying to bring it under submission to the state.
Loving parents know better than bureaucrats or judges how they should raise their own children.