Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As everyone is aware, it's Education Week in the NWT and today is National Pink Shirt Day, a day set aside to combat bullying. Thank you to Minister Moses for his Minister’s statement today. Bullying is a serious problem for some people. It can start at a very young age in schools, and it can have a hundred reasons, but there are no good reasons for bullying. Bullying is just a matter of meanness to someone who is perceived as being a little different or weak. As we heard, Pink Shirt Day started when two high school students in Nova Scotia witnessed a grade 9 boy being bullied in school for wearing a pink shirt. It gave them an idea to stand with the victim, so they went to a discount store and bought 50 pink T-shirts which they distributed to their classmates the next day. The bullies were never heard from again. That kind of kindness and inclusiveness to our peers and colleagues is an important message. The slogan of National Pink Shirt Day is “kindness is one size fits all.” We may think bullying takes place in only schools, but bullying can also take place in the workplace, in the home, or on the Internet. Bullying can affect people of different ages in all walks of life and can be based on personality traits, social awkwardness, sexual orientation, or any number of other factors.
Last year, the Department of Health and Social Services and the NWT Helpline put together the You Are Not Alone video in support of people who face challenges of mental illness often related to trauma, violence or bullying. There's also the It Gets Better Yellowknife project, which strives to make things better for queer youth, a demographic that suffers a shockingly high rate of suicide. All these initiatives are aimed at letting people know that we all have tough times, but that there's help available and that things do get better. While bullying is everywhere, some of our most vulnerable citizens are kids in schools. For that reason, school-based initiatives are especially important. During Education Week I believe it's important to emphasize that our schools must be inclusive places where each student feels safe and secure and where his or her value as a human being is recognized and upheld. Mr. Speaker, I will seek unanimous consent to continue my Member’s statement.
---Unanimous consent granted.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues. We must recognize and support our teachers who dedicate their professional lives to the welfare and success of our young people, and we must always be vigilant and courageous in confronting bullying wherever and whenever it emerges. At the appropriate time I'll have questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment in this regard. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
