Saturday, September 21, 2013

FAMILY AUTONOMY, CHILD PROTECTION & PARENTAL RIGHTS (part 1 of 3)

The family is the primary social institution. The family is the primary conservator and transmitter of values, beliefs and traditions. Conservation of family autonomy should be among the most important objectives of provincial and federal governments. This commitment must become evident to Members of the Legislative Assembly of B.C. and to the Ministry of Children and Family Development and to Educators and to Law Enforcement that any intervention into family is like an invasion into its sanctity because it endangers family customs and ideals? Furthermore, parental liberty is fundamental to the concept and function of family.
Thus fundamental recognition is underscored by the fact that the autonomy of family is both acknowledged and defended within Canadian human rights documents and international papers of which Canada is a signatory. Such documents seek to protect the rights of families from the intrusions inferred here. Family is universally recognized as the natural and essential societal unit. The family should be entitled to protection.

The preamble to the Canadian Bill of Rights contains this statement. “The Canadian Nation is founded upon principles that acknowledge the supremacy of God, the dignity and worth of the human person and the position of the family in a society of free men and free institutions?”

Furthermore, the United Convention on the Rights of the Child also issues a statement in its preamble, “Convinced that the family, as the fundamental group of society and the natural environment for the growth and well-being of all its members and particularly children, should be afforded the necessary protection and assistance so that it can fully assume its responsibilities in the community.”

Enclosed in these documents and others like it are pro-family provisions that demonstrate the time-honoured tradition that public interests are best served when the family is reinforced and defended.

The protection of children is essential to this traditional commitment. Gratuitously, children’s rights activists articulate their statements, arguments and promotion in opposition to the historically held beliefs in the integral importance of the family. This accent is logical in certain international cultures where practices such as child marriage, female infanticide and genital mutilation are practiced. In such instances I understand the obligation to speak for children’s rights over family tradition, but certainly not here in Canada. Yet here is my concern. Canada is among the partnership of countries that opposes the affirmation of parental rights. I assert that there is no comprehensive need to abolish parental rights and responsibilities in order to protect children from malicious treatment. Specific cases can always be dealt with through criminal law channels. There is no need to intrude upon the parent-child relationship by extreme efforts to eliminate parental rights.

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