Two bills are trying a smack-down on Canada’s spanking law

Over 65 countries around the world have entirely banned all physical discipline of children. In 2022, two separate bills were introduced in the Canadian House of Commons and Senate to add Canada to that list. These bills are the latest of many attempts in the past 25 years to ban spanking in Canada. Both are private member’s bills which, although unlikely to pass, are currently going through the legislative process and are providing fresh opportunities for some politicians to speak out against the authority of parents over their children.

Specifically, these bills attempt to repeal section 43 of the Canadian Criminal Code 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.”

Some advocates want to ban spanking to fulfill Recommendation 6 of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 Calls to Action which were released in 2015. The Commission calls on the government to repeal section 43 “in order to redress the legacy of residential schools and advance the process of Canadian reconciliation.” These advocates argue that repealing section 43 is a small but necessary step on the path to reconciliation and that violence against children must be stopped. In advocating for one of the two bills, Senator Stan Kutcher referenced the Bible, seeking to prove that Jesus “recognized the responsibility of kind and considerate parenting, and that did not include hitting children.”

Whether in Canada or elsewhere, the language used by advocates often includes “hitting,” “violence,” or “assault.” When language like “we should ban child abuse” or “ban violence against children” is used, it’s hard to disagree.

But child abuse and violence against children are (and ought to be) already illegal. Instead, corporal discipline must be seen as the use of reasonable, non-injurious physical force with the intention and purpose of correction or control of a child’s behavior.

Other advocates for a spanking ban argue that spanking is harmful for children and that it creates increased risk of violence and mental disorders in children. However, controlled, non-abusive spanking actually tends to reduce negative behavior in children compared to other disciplinary tactics. Take Sweden as an example, where the rates of assaults against minors have increased since the country banned physical discipline in 1979.

Ultimately, parents ought to be able to raise their children as they see fit (within limits, of course). Parents have the responsibility to discipline their children, not out of anger, but out of a desire to protect and train them to be good citizens. The government can never replace parents in the life of a child and must not try to do so by legislating how children ought to be raised.