Thank you, colleagues. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
WHEREAS bullying includes a range of repeated, intentional or hurtful behaviours such as threats, name calling, physical abuse, physical violence, shunning, shunning and excluding, stealing or breaking of person’s things and coercing people to do things they do not want to do;
AND WHEREAS in recent years, the use of social media and other information and communication technologies to bullying, also known as cyber-bullying, has become increasingly problematic;
AND WHEREAS people who are subjected to bullying may experience a range of harmful consequences including a loss of self-esteem and confidence, feelings of being unsafe and scared, depression and physical injury;
AND WHEREAS the effects of bullying may continue to be felt long after the bullying ceases;
AND WHEREAS the Northwest Territories does not have a territory-wide public education initiative, policies or legislation to counter bullying;
AND WHEREAS the Members of this Legislative Assembly which denounce all bullying behaviour in our schools and in our society at large;
NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Sahtu, that this Legislative Assembly strongly recommends the Government of the Northwest Territories establish a territory-wide campaign to denounce bullying including cyber-bullying and to provide information and resources for schools, parents, victims and bystanders;
AND FURTHER, that the government review anti-bullying legislation measures being undertaken in other jurisdictions and bring forward a bill for consideration by this Assembly within 18 months;
AND FURTHERMORE, that the government provide a comprehensive response to this motion within 120 days.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The motion is in order. To the motion. Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank our colleagues for allowing us to stand here today. These are the first steps towards what I refer to as proper legislation. We have to start with the measures first. This is why the motion is on the floor today.
As indicated earlier with my Members here, the idea to create, and formulate and coordinate all the needed measures that go against all the inter-department boundaries that this motion will have to touch on, it takes a coordinated effort to get to the proper legislation in the future.
We need this government to denounce bullying. By this motion and by giving the parameters thereof, this gives our government the ability to move forward. You have to provide an aggressive campaign on TV, radio, Internet. You have to find every means possible to get this message out to all the citizens and especially the children of the Northwest Territories. This measure that we have before us today as a motion, I believe is a symbol. This is a starting point this government can use, and use for all, including our victims, but for all people and territories.
We have heard earlier today from our children out there through Our Voice, Our Choice. This is being student driven. We owe it to them to go forward and help them along their way.
This also helps us to look at the root causes of this behaviour. I think that is a very underlying issue that tends to be forgotten in the process as we prepare for legislation in the future. As indicated here by one of my Members, we have to talk about the postnatal, the preschool and early childhood development. These are critical areas that the measure of this motion will be balanced against.
Mr. Speaker, this can’t just be a yearly campaign. Our government owes it to the people to be something more than an annual event. This has to be something within the breadth of our existence as government and something we can be proud of. Everyone here were either children or are mothers and fathers. We can’t allow our children and our students to live in fear. We need to support them. It is our turn, Mr. Speaker. This motion I think is the first step that we can tip the scales and help these victims. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. To the motion. The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I speak in support of this motion. I believe bullying has to stop and should be stamped out in the communities, and in our homes and also generally in society.
I would like to also thank my colleague and acknowledge the leadership of Mr. Daryl Dolynny for bringing this forward, plus to acknowledge the students that are involved in this project today and this initiative.
I think this is a start. Ultimately, we should be aspiring to ensure that bullying as a practice should not be condoned or tolerated. It should be stopped. We need government action. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. To the motion. The honourable Member for the Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the mover of this motion, for bringing this issue to the Legislature today, and also for Ms. Bisaro’s enthusiasm and support to get everybody here to talk about this issue.
It not only affects students in Yellowknife. It affects students right across the Northwest Territories, in homes and communities. Like I said, it not only affects students, it affects leaders, families and everybody.
I want to thank the Member for the motion here. In the motion it talks about some recommendations that this government could do to denounce bullying. Mr. Speaker, in my younger days in the ‘70s, I liked the rock band Quiet Riot. The band would say we’re not going to take this anymore. That is what we have to say about bullying in our communities. This government should have a good campaign. The Minister is really pumping me up here to talk about the bullying campaign and do it, and these communities that we represent have to stand up and say we’re not going to take it anymore. Bullying is not welcome in Ulukhaktok, Tsiigehtchic, Colville Lake, Tulita, Wrigley, Gameti, Smith and Hay River, or in Lutselk’e and Yellowknife. It is not welcome in the Northwest Territories. Take it outside the North. Start learning to respect the culture, the values and the people. We have to have a strong campaign that will be a sweeping change of attitudes of people in the North.
What the heck’s going on with cyber-bullying? That’s scary. People are looking to see what they can do about it.
I want to support this motion. I look for some bullying legislation from this government. We have to draft it. We will draft it. I understand Quebec has done that as a result of some pretty serious stuff that happened with bullying. That government has taken the lead to say enough is enough. We, as legislators, are legislating behaviours of people. We think that’s common sense for them, but it isn’t.
I want to say that we want to ask, through this motion, if the government can consider putting together a legislative proposal, maybe, or a discussion paper and say this is what we can do. This will deter any type of bullying in the North here.
I’m going to support this motion.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, as well, would like to thank Mr. Dolynny and Mr. Yakeleya for bringing this motion to the floor. I think we’ve had an excellent expression of varying views on bullying today. I think it’s created a very good awareness both in the House and outside of the House. I think the event of having the students here and our statements will be very educational to many people. I think we’ve also created maybe one or two budding radio and TV stars with the media activity that was happening upstairs before the House.
Society as a whole is impacted by bullying, even bullies themselves. Through their own actions and the inaction of others, people learn that antisocial behaviour and exerting control over others – whether it be verbal, physical, social, e-mail or so on – is acceptable and that it works. We all, everybody has a role to play in making that kind of behaviour unacceptable and that, in turn, will create safer communities.
Our schools are, as usual, ahead of the government. There are many programs happening in the various schools across the territory and in the education authorities. My own experience has been with Yellowknife Education District No. 1. That board has had a Safe Schools Policy since the early 1990s. I was a part of helping to develop that particular policy that is now pervasive through all of YK1 schools. Other boards, as well, I know are doing activities on bullying, but they are doing it in isolation. It’s not a concerted and coordinated effort across the territory. That’s what we need and that’s what this motion asks for. Our schools recognize the issue and the problem. I reiterate that we, as a government, have to do the same.
The negative effects of bullying are well known. They’re listed in the whereases of the motion. It has a huge impact on any individual who is bullied and it’s something that we have to take action to try and stop. A territory-wide campaign which is called for in the motion, to my mind, is a way to do that and to start to defeat the negative aspects of bullying.
I also agree very strongly that legislation is needed. In Alberta – I mentioned Alberta in my statement – we’re not Alberta but we are somewhat like Alberta. We are similar. In Alberta, 80 to 90 percent of their residents felt that family violence and bullying should be a priority or both of those should be priorities for their government. I suspect if we did a survey of NWT residents, we would come up with a very similar figure.
Alberta has started action and I feel very strongly that it is time for us to start action. This motion calls for a coordinated campaign of educational awareness. It also calls for legislation. I fully support both of those actions. I encourage all Members to support this particular motion, even those on the other side of the House.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First off I’d like to thank Mr. Dolynny for bringing this motion forward. I appreciate the initiative and certainly the enthusiasm from our new Member for Range Lake. He’s already starting to have a defining impact on the 17th Assembly. This is a clear example of his efforts. At the same time I’d like to recognize Mr. Yakeleya for supporting this, because it takes grassroots territorial support to bring an initiative like this forward.
Undoubtedly, anti-bullying, or I should say bullying efforts and countering them go from one tip of the territory to the next. It’s not just a large community issue; it’s also a small community issue. It’s a community issue. It’s everyone.
The statement made here by many of the Members in their Members’ statements should have brought forward the passion and concern that many of our constituents suffer from. It’s hard to deny that when somebody’s being bullied about, you cannot see or in many cases you probably can’t erase the irreparable impact that’s had on their lives and how it’s changed them.
The fact is that in my Member’s statement I tried to highlight Mildred Hall, which is a school in the downtown. I consider what an amazing little school it is. It’s certainly the little school that could and it’s certainly the little school that can. It’s a school that uses a lot of their efforts to focus in on what’s the best they can do for their children. Those students there every day preach responsibility, respect and a safe environment. I think that’s something that’s very impressive. The students, you can feel it resonate how they respect each other, they respect authority, they respect their friends, they respect who they are themselves. Out of that builds self-esteem, as I talked about earlier today.
Just on the self-esteem note, as I said in my Member’s statement and even in my dialogue with some folks in Mildred Hall, they talked about identifying that sometimes it’s a self-esteem issue with the bully, that they actually have to narrow it down to say how do we stop this particular problem. They say, well, wait a minute, the bully not only is the problem per se, but the bully has a problem themselves. When they drill down, sometimes they find that that’s the person that needs the support and that’s how they’re reacting. If they want to help break the cycle, they’re spending that type of time and effort to make sure they get to know these folks and understand the problem from the full gamut, not just what brought us to the last part, but all the way back and say how can we make a difference. I want to applaud Mildred Hall. I want to applaud YK1. I want to applaud YK1’s partners with YCS and the RCMP, who send their community liaison officer over there to work with them.
Sometimes they’re not as simple as just talking to a student. Sometimes they’re not as simple as talking to a parent. These are troubling problems. I’d be surprised if one of us here has not been touched in the sense of a tragedy that’s happened out of a bullying effort. I’m not talking about someone who’s been ashamed by the colour of their clothes or the colour of their skin or even the language they speak.
I can speak and remember growing up in Akaitcho Hall, in particular – and I thank Mrs. Groenewegen, I’ll say, for sharing that personal story – I remember someone who, quite frankly… We would not speak the word “gay” in our time in the ‘80s at Akaitcho. There was a young man there and he was gay. He hid from everyone because they bullied him there. It was horrible. He came from a well-to-do family. The fact is, no one stood up for him, and years back, from this point I should say, as I look back years ago and I think what a shame that no one stood up for him. It’s one of those horrible stories. I wish we could end with it all worked out fine. But he disappeared; he didn’t come back the following year. The next time we heard about him we heard that he threw himself down a garbage disposal in some apartment building unit because he just couldn’t take it anymore. That story just always reminds me about… It bothers me now just talking about it. It always reminds me that the bully isn’t just the person doing the punches and the words. The bully isn’t the person doing all those hateful things. Sometimes the crowd, by doing nothing, becomes part of the problem. I’m sorry I brought that up, Mr. Speaker. It’s statements like this that we think about it.
This motion today, I often call them creative suggestions, but I certainly hope it resonates with this particular government. As I said earlier, I want to thank Mr. Dolynny for bringing this forward, and I’m convinced that if this government doesn’t act, I suspect that in somewhere between six and 12 months Mr. Dolynny will be working out his own private member’s bill to bring forward this initiative.
This initiative here supports our school systems. Let us not forget that. Right now many of our good school systems do have supporting policies that work very hard to work with the students and parents in the community. I can tell you they need support of good legislation that helps them when they need to do their job. This is more than just a motion today. This is telling our schools, and teachers, and administration in those districts that we care and we support them.
If it isn’t evident by now, I’ll be voting in favour of this particular motion because I feel that it is very important. As a parent, I’ll tell you that nothing is sadder than when your kid comes home and talks about being bullied. I’ll tell you, this motion means a lot to many of us in many different ways and I’ve shared them today.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I can honestly say that I’m very honoured to be standing in this House today, discussing an issue and a matter that’s important to a lot of people in the Northwest Territories; right across Canada, for that matter. This is something that we’re talking about and that legislation is on the floor now. I do hope that we get support from all Members today on something that affects everybody: our friends, our family, our youth, our kids. I feel very strongly about this, that this legislation should be put into place and that we start discouraging the actions of bullies everywhere.
Bullies, as some of the Members have said previous, have issues as well. They have problems that we have to address through this legislation and some of the work that we do. What is the reason? What are the underlying causes that make people bully? Address those issues. It could be home life. It could be community life. We need to help those people out as well. The victim is the victim, but we also have to help some of the people who are put in positions where they are bullies.
It’s kind of unfortunate that we’re bringing the legislation forward now. I feel very sorry for the people that have been hurt because of bullying and because actions from adults and people in society not taking action and standing up for people in our community. That’s something that we should be doing.
Earlier in my Member’s statement I said we all have a voice. Let’s speak up and talk about this. Let’s make sure things happen so that people in our communities don’t have to hurt anymore.
I’m very honoured to be here today so that we can make this move forward and take action. I hope it doesn’t come down to a private member’s bill, because it shouldn’t. We should take action on this and move on it. I’m very honoured to be standing up in front of the group here and in front of the people of the Northwest Territories in support of this motion.
I’d also like to recognize some of the schools. We had a grade school here today, a class come in and kick-start this off. Because one school did it, hopefully we can start bringing that awareness, that campaign into all schools across the Northwest Territories. It doesn’t have to end at schools. It should go into the workplace. It should go into the work areas and protect the people that work with the bullies in the workplace as well.
I am in support of this motion and I hope that all Members today do support this motion, because like I said, it affects everybody. It affects our families, our youth, our friends, our leaders. Even our leaders. Our leaders get bullied into making decisions when that shouldn’t be the case.
Today when we pass the motion, I hope we do get unanimous consent from everybody.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of the timely action NWT-wide with anti-bullying measures. I want to begin by thanking my colleagues Mr. Dolynny and Mr. Yakeleya for their good work putting an excellent motion together. I’d also like to thank Ms. Bisaro for excellent work in coordinating our work to profile this issue in the House today.
I appreciate all the comments in our Members’ statements and here in support of the motion from my colleagues. I think they were very informed, passionate and often experiential. So people are going right out there. I think this is a straightforward indication that we want to move forward quickly and well on this issue. It’s probably no surprise that I particularly would like to see the territory-wide campaign include a focus on the prevention opportunities we have to avoid the development of bullying.
With that, I will leave it at that and look forward to rising again in support of this motion. Mahsi.
To the motion. Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank the Members for bringing this motion forward on the floor. As you know, bullying is a destructive and shameful thing and we cannot tolerate it anymore.
As I stated in this House today, that at ECE we are exploring with other jurisdictions in North America their stance on bullying legislation. We are very serious about anti-bullying in our schools, in our communities, in our homes. Together, with the support of parents and community leaders, I’m confident that we can ensure that our students are safe from this type of behaviour. I’m very glad that this motion is on the floor today and commit to working with the Members to treat this issue very seriously until it is completely eradicated from our society.
This is a recommendation to our government. Since it is a recommendation to our government, the Cabinet will be abstaining from the vote. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. We’ll let Mr. Dolynny have final comments to the motion.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to thank my colleagues here today in support of this motion who spoke. I’d like to take a moment to thank the Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro, for coordinating a concerted effort with our students out there at N.J. Macpherson, and I appreciate her doing so. I’d also like to thank the seconder of this motion, my esteemed colleague from the Sahtu. As a new Member, I’m getting to know and learn his genre of music. We’ve gone from country to R and B and now to hard rock. We are not going to take this anymore. I’m looking forward to what he is going to choose for rap soon.
Ideally, what we’ve brought forward here is, really, the framework for measures for a proper campaign. As I mentioned, it is to preserve our culture. I think this is a clear message that we want to denounce bullying everywhere, and I think it’s time that this government needs to put that best foot forward.
In time we’re hoping that this will cause legislative behaviour changes. With that, we can do a lot more investigation in terms of some of the root causes of bullying out there, as mentioned by some of the other Members as well. I think those are critical factors. Both of those, between finding the root causes and finding legislative behaviour, are two ships that have to sail on the same ocean. We’ve got to make sure we don’t lose fact and focus of that fight.
We’ve heard from the Minister across the floor, they may be abstaining from voting, but I’m hoping that 120 days from now, if we don’t hear anything forward, I can tell you, and I assure you, that it doesn’t matter which Member from this side of the House, there will be a private member’s bill coming forward. I can assure you of that, whether it’s me or one of them.
To summarize, I’m hoping a change of heart. I’m hoping for all Members within this Assembly to vote with your heart and to vote for the victims of bullying out there, because they are there and they’re looking towards us for our guidance and our wisdom. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called.
---Carried
The motion is carried. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to deal with Motion 4-17(2), which I gave notice of yesterday. Mahsi.
---Unanimous consent granted
