Would provincial protection acts have to be amended if section 43 repealed?
No. Repeal would not require provincial protection acts to be amended. These acts require proof that a child has suffered harm or is likely to suffer harm resulting from the conduct of the child’s caregiver. This has to be proven whether s. 43 exists or not. Protection agencies, however, would need greater funding than they presently receive to facilitate earlier intervention to assist families before corporal punishment escalates to a point where harm or a likely risk of harm results. This initial increase in funding would be more than offset by the much greater costs of dealing with harm after the event since prevention is far less expensive in the long run. See our Research chapter for the Law Commission study The Economic Costs andConsequences of Child Abuse in Canada for estimates of these costs.
