Well, that's not quite accurate, but it's close enough to be disturbing. As the National Post tells us,
The ruling, handed down by a committee of the world body, comes as a poll yesterday
showed Canadians are evenly split when it comes to spanking by Mom or Dad, but on the
whole against allowing teachers to hit children.
Spanking is also before the Supreme Court of Canada, which is weighing a petition to
repeal a federal law that lets parents, teachers or guardians apply "reasonable force"
to discipline a minor.
...
The UN ruling was issued after Ottawa sent a large delegation of experts and government
officials to Geneva, where the 18 experts of the world body's Committee on Rights of the
Child questioned them on Canada's child care record. In a report, the committee says
Canada should "adopt legislation to remove the existing authorization of the use of
'reasonable force' in disciplining children, and explicitly prohibit all forms of
violence against children, however light, within the family, in schools and in other
institutions where children might be placed."
As a signatory of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Canada is obliged to make
periodic appearances before the committee. ...
The UN has told the Canadian government to ban all forms of corporal punishment of
youngsters -- including even a light slap.
I wonder what I would do if Indiana banned spanking. Move to another state? Possibly.
And mother-in-law will be displeased if it turns out that visiting her in Vancouver is
likely to subject us to criminal penalties.
We see here a good reason (a) not to take the United Nations seriously, (b) not to
sign international convenctions, and (c) to be a little scared of people who want us to
take the UN seriously and sign international conventions.
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