Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. In one time or other, a lot of us have been bullied. In some cases, some of us may have been the bully. Today we come into the House talking about bullying as a major topic within our schools, but it doesn’t only happen within the schools. It happens within our communities. Kids get bullied but more on top of that, adults get bullied. Elders get bullied. Co-workers get bullied. People in the work force also get bullied. This is not a problem that is only in the schools, but I am really glad that the schools have addressed it.
We did have a presentation in the House in the Great Hall one day about My Voice, My Choice. It seems that this government is getting a lot of direction and encouragement, a lot of motivation from our youth, which is really amazing and something that should be looked upon in a very positive way.
We all have a voice. Let’s use it. We have to stand up, take a stand against all the bullies in our communities. We have to stand up and talk to our counsellors, talk to our teachers, talk to the RCMP officers, our leaders, the adults in the communities that can help us. We can’t sit back and let it continue to happen. We have to take action on this.
We want to let the people across the Northwest Territories know that they are not alone, whether they are getting bullied by coworkers or other people in their schools or even in some cases our biggest bullies out there are the drug dealers, which I will have a few questions about that later to the Minister of Justice.
As I said, Mr. Speaker, we are behind everybody. They are not alone. Use your voice, stand up and let’s address the issue and tackle this issue of bullying so that it does stop. People who do get bullied face depression. They face isolation. They bully themselves, like one of the Members said, just to see how it feels. The worst-case scenario is suicide. We can’t give in to that action, let that happen. We have to address the issue before it even gets there.
There was a news report on CBC the other day about one in two people being bullied. That is not acceptable, Mr. Speaker. I believe this government can make a change, take a stand against this and help the people of the Northwest Territories by creating policies and legislation to support our people in the Northwest Territories so that they can live a life, and our children can be children and play and have fun and learn how to be a child. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.
