Spanking Children – Section 43 of the Criminal Code – 1996

WHEREAS parents have the primary duty and responsibility for the upbringing, including the disciplining, of their children;

AND WHEREAS Section 43 of the Criminal Code permits parents to use force by way of correction of their children providing it is reasonable under the circumstances;

AND WHEREAS Section 43 of the Criminal Code strikes a reasonable balance between parental obligations to discipline a child and the requirement of a child to e protected by the State from physical harm or substantial risk;

BE IT RESOLVED that the federal government retain the provisions of Section 43 of the Criminal Code, so as to permit a parent to use corporal punishment, if reasonable under the circumstances, without interference from the State.