Hon. Pierre J. Dalphond: I am a bit younger than Senator Plett, but not by that much, but by a few years. I saw in my classroom, of course, the strap and I also saw the three-foot-long ruler that was really to rule the class and not to take any measurements. I’m glad my children were not exposed to it. I must say I think we have moved as a society toward a better approach to education.

That leads to my question. I remember that with a previous iteration of a similar bill I met with a representative of the Canadian Teachers’ Federation who was opposed to the repeal of that section because they had the impression that it might expose them to criminal charges. Did you have any contact with the association?

Senator Kutcher: Thank you for that question, Senator Dalphond. I certainly agree with you that our understanding and our changes in parenting practices have evolved over the last 20 or 30 years, and I think they are evolving still and they are evolving to a good point. I do want to comment that we just can’t sit by and let things evolve; we need to help them on their way. I did talk about the importance of bringing in positive parenting programs and parenting supports such as Strongest Families, which is on the Wellness Together app that any Canadian can access for free.

Yes, we are meeting with the Canadian Teachers’ Federation tomorrow. I know the Honourable Senator Sinclair met with them a number of times. I spoke to scores, almost hundreds, of teachers whom I know personally from many parts of this country in doing my research on the bill. Most of them were shocked to learn about section 43. They didn’t know about it.

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I have spent the last 20 years working in schools all across Canada and other parts of the world with mental health programs in schools. I have been really struck by how teachers care for their kids. They want the kids to do well. They want to use the best interventions to help the children succeed and flourish and do the best they can. They don’t want to hit kids.

I think we as a society have to make sure we are supporting our teachers, that we’re giving them the resources they need, the in-classroom supports and the professional supports. We just had World Teachers’ Day. Teachers play such an important role in helping us raise our kids. They’re so important to our kids that we have to support teachers more. We have to give them more tools. Why do we have 30 kids in a classroom, for crying out loud? It’s so hard to teach. Senator Martin is a teacher, Senator Cordy is a teacher and Senator Deacon is a teacher; they can tell us what it’s like. I’m a university teacher. It’s not quite as challenging.

I thank you for that question. I’m looking forward to this bill going to committee so that the committee can do a deep dive on the issues Senator Plett raised, which are important concerns. I respect Senator Plett for raising them and challenging us to think about them, because we have to think about them. They’re important. Hopefully, the committee can come up with some really good thinking about this bill. Thank you very much, Senator Dalphond.

(On motion of Senator Martin, debate adjourned.)

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