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 new allegations about the use of holds and seclusion at a Whitehorse school.

In a virtual news 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.

'It's not OK to hurt children' 

The NDP's news 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.

In the news conference, White said the doors, which had large windows in them, were eventually removed "due to children allegedly breaking the glass trying to escape."

An ongoing internal review ordered by the Yukon government previously confirmed holds and isolation were "routinely" used at Jack Hulland prior to 2020, including for matters of non-compliance such as when a student refused to pull down the hood on their sweater.

Holds, per the education department's policies, are intended to be used as a last resort in situations where there's imminent danger, while the use of seclusion is forbidden.

Corporal punishment is also forbidden under the Yukon's Education Act. However, former Yukon schools superintendent Donna Miller-Fry, who also spoke at Thursday's news conference, said neither that nor the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child was enough to "to prevent the physical and mental trauma inflicted on children in the school."

"During open public school council meetings, Jack Hulland Elementary teachers and leaders have expressed with confidence that they have done nothing wrong … Under Section 43 of the Criminal Code, they have a defence for this behaviour," Miller-Fry said.

"We need to be really, really clear, it's not OK to hurt children and this message will only be clear when we repeal section 43 of the Criminal Code."

Yukon gov't 'closed its eyes on systemic abuse,' White alleges

Julian, for his part, acknowledged that the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in 2004 that section 43 was constitutional but with several caveats, including that any force used has to be "transitory and trifling" — no marks can be left on the child, for example — and that teachers cannot use force against children as punishment.

However, he said the Supreme Court's "framework" was not enough, arguing that the Canadian government had to repeal the section to remove all "ambiguity" about any permissible use of force against children.

White and Miller-Fry, meanwhile, also called on the Yukon education department to provide more support for families of children who may have been subjected to unnecessary holds and seclusion at Jack Hulland, as well as school staff.

"We also know of teachers and staff that have tried to speak out before. We know that staff reached out to the Department of Education for support, for training, for resources, and that the government did nothing," White said.

"For 12 years, children in a public elementary school were allegedly put into isolation rooms and put in holds as a form of discipline and punishment … Children were left alone to deal with the trauma, some of them for 12 long years," she continued.

"This is a story of children, parents and school staff being left alone while the government closed its eyes on systemic abuse."

White also accused the Education Department of withholding information from families trying to find out if their children were subject to holds and seclusion.

In an email, Yukon education department spokesperson Clarissa Wall said the ongoing RCMP investigation was preventing the department from sharing "some items," but that it would be directly following up with families who have requested access to student records.

"We are working to provide families with as much information as we are able in order for them to access supports and make informed decisions," Wall wrote. "The past year has been exceptionally challenging for many members of the Jack Hulland Elementary School community and supports are available to anyone who has been affected by this."