Federal, Yukon NDP renew call to ban use of force on kids following allegations at Whitehorse school

The federal and Yukon NDP are renewing calls to repeal a section of Canadian law that allows the "correction of children by force" in light of allegations about the use of holds and seclusion at a Whitehorse school. 

In a virtual press conference Thursday, Yukon NDP leader Kate White described the alleged treatment of some students at Jack Hulland Elementary School prior to 2020 — including being put in holds for hours or placed alone in small cubicles — as "horrific." 

However, she claimed it was "unclear" if an ongoing RCMP investigation would result in successful criminal charges due to a section of the Criminal Code that allows corrective force to be used on children. 

"We're talking about this today," White said, "because the voices of parents and children matter and because section 43 of the Criminal Code allows this type of abuse to go unpunished."

The section allows "every schoolteacher, parent or person standing in the place of a parent" to use reasonable force "by way of correction" on children. 

White was joined by federal NDP MP Peter Julian, who in May tabled Bill C-273, or An Act to amend the Criminal Code (Corinne's Quest and the protection of children), that calls on the Canadian government to repeal section 43. 

Julian said his "primary impetus" for the bill was the "genocide that took place at residential schools," noting that repealing section 43 was among the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's (TRC) Calls to Action. However, he also noted more than 60 "almost exclusively democratic countries" have already eliminated provisions in their laws that allow the use of force against children.

"The reality is, and I insist on this, Canada is … a laggard behind the rest of the world," he said.

"For as long as there is ambiguity around the use of force against children … we will continue, sadly, to hear of these incidents and allegations, and many of these allegations will be horrific."

Bill C-273 passed first reading in the House of Commons. 

The NDP's press conference came in light of a recent CBC radio documentary diving into the allegations surrounding Jack Hulland, which first became public last November when the RCMP announced it was investigating the historic use of holds and seclusion at the school. 

Three parents, including the two behind a proposed class-action lawsuit, alleged their children have been traumatized by being placed in holds or locked alone in a room called the "study hall" starting as young as kindergarten when they had emotional outbursts or meltdowns. 

The parents said they only learned the full extent of what happened to their children when they were interviewed as part of the RCMP investigation this year.

A former Jack Hulland school counsellor also told the CBC she regularly witnessed children being put in unnecessary holds or in one of four small cubicles built in the study hall, alleging that a staff member would then sit on a chair in front of the cubicle door to prevent the child from escaping.