http://www.hslda.org

Home school legal defense association.

On January 30, 2004, the Supreme Court of Canada refused to criminalize
spanking as a form of parental discipline.


Justice Louise Arbour, the UN's former chief prosecutor in the International
War Criminal Tribunal, was adamant that spanking should be criminalized, but
fortunately the court disagreed. The court stated that family disruption is far
more harmful to children than corporal punishment.


This case first began in 1999 when the Canadian Foundation for Children, Youth
and the Law argued before an Ontario court to criminalize spanking. Their
arguments failed at the trial level and the appellate level and have now been
rejected by the Canadian Supreme Court.


"The decision to uphold Section 43 is grounded in the recognition that to
criminalize the actions of parents who provide loving guidance and correction
to their children would result in ruined lives and broken families. As the
court noted, this burden is often borne by the children involved," commented
Dallas Miller, Senior Counsel and Executive Director of HSLDA of Canada, and a
member of the Coalition for Family Autonomy (CFA).


The four groups comprising the Coalition For Family Autonomy who largely
handled the case are Home School Legal Defence Association of Canada, Focus on
the Family (Canada), REAL Women of Canada, and Canada Family Action Coalition.


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