Thank you, Mr. Speaker. WHEREAS Members of this Legislative Assembly recognize that bullying is a significant concern for Northwest Territories residents, and on February 16, 2012, passed Motion 5-17(2) on anti-bullying measures;
AND WHEREAS the use of social media, smartphones, and other information and communication technologies to bully, also known as cyberbullying, has become increasingly prevalent in recent years, with tragic consequences;
AND WHEREAS recent events in Canada including, most unfortunately, suicides of young people who were victims of cyberbullying, have brought this issue to the forefront of national attention and highlighted the need for changes to our justice system;
AND WHEREAS Justice Ministers across Canada are working to combat cyberbullying;
NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River North, that this Legislative Assembly supports the efforts of the federal, provincial and territorial Justice Ministers to better protect children by combatting cyberbullying, including changes to the Criminal Code of Canada that would make it a specific criminal offence to share intimate images without consent;
AND FURTHER, that the Speaker transmit this motion to the Prime Minister, federal Opposition leaders, and federal, provincial and territorial Ministers of Justice.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The motion is in order. To the motion. Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In Canada over the last year, we have had to endure too many young people’s lives lost due to suicide, suicide brought on by bullying. Most recently, we heard of the untimely death of Rehtaeh Parsons in Atlantic Canada.
I bring this motion forward so that this Assembly can show its support for work currently underway by provincial, territorial and federal Justice Ministers. They are working hard to effect change to the Criminal Code of Canada, change which will hopefully limit cyberbullying, which will allow for the prosecution of those who take advantage of our young people through social media by cyberbullying, and hopefully, it will keep more of our young people alive for many years to come.
The parents of Rehtaeh Parsons were forced to make a decision that no parent should have to make. They were forced to terminate the life of their child. I know the misery that that decision meant for them, and I do not wish it on any parent. Seventeen-year-olds are not supposed to die before their parents do. But Rehtaeh Parsons had earlier chosen to end her life by suicide, a choice she was forced into as a result of bullying; cyberbullying, specifically.
Like Amanda Todd before her, Rehtaeh Parsons had very private and personal images of herself posted on the Internet without her consent. The ensuing bullying, harassment and blackmail were too much for both of these young ladies, and they turned to suicide as a way out of what they felt was an untenable life.
We are legislators. It is our job to make law, and by doing so to make our territory safer and a better place to live and work. When circumstances drive our children to take their own lives or to harm themselves, it is our job to do whatever we can to change those circumstances and reduce the risk to our children.
If cyberbullying is a circumstance, one way to reduce that risk is to hold to account the bullies who terrorize our children, the bullies who taunt and humiliate via the Internet and social media.
As legislators we have a powerful voice, especially when it is a unanimous one. As legislators we can lobby for change to the Criminal Code to make it illegal to share intimate images without the individual’s consent, and our voice will carry considerable weight with those making the law.
This motion asks us to lobby. It asks for the support of this Assembly for the work being done by all Canadian Justice Ministers, work which will change the Criminal Code of Canada to make it a criminal offence to share intimate images without consent. It is not a partisan motion by any stretch of the imagination. We all should be concerned in this House about the safety and security of our children and young adults.
I ask all Members to support this motion. Let us be together on this issue and send a united, strong, one-voice message to the Justice Ministers of all Canadian jurisdictions.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. To the motion. I’ll go to the seconder, Mr. Bouchard.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank Ms. Bisaro for bringing this motion forward. Obviously, a very important motion.
In this House we’ve spoken of bullying. We’ve worn pink to eliminate bullying. We need to include in bullying social media and cyberbullying. The youth of today use social media as a communication to talk to each other, but also now we see this bullying being used.
My colleague has given several examples of people that have committed suicide over this situation. It’s a very grim situation for our youth but we need to support it, for giving direction to the territorial government to implement this type of law. I think it is very important.
Again, I would like to thank my colleague for bringing this forward. I would look for everyone to support this. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. To the motion. Mr. Dolynny.
Mr. Speaker, I too rise again today here and to support this motion. I would like to thank the mover of the motion, Ms. Bisaro, and the seconder, Mr. Bouchard. We spoke passionately here in this House about cyberbullying for our time here. I know there have been other Members of the Legislative Assembly of years past who have done the same.
The message is quite clear: we have to go beyond what is in print. We have to go beyond what we do in promotion. We have to go and do everything possible as legislators. This motion does speak to this. This motion asks us to put some meat on the bone when it comes to cyberbullying. I think it goes to the very fabric of what we have to do here as legislators. I am going to reach out to our colleagues across the table here.
They have been asked to do this as a free vote, to send a united front, as was asked by Member Bisaro. I will be asking them to vote in favour of this motion, along with our side of the House, so that we can actually truly give that right response that we need to give to the people, not only Northwest Territories but the people of Canada. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. To the motion. Mr. Moses.
Mr. Speaker, I also rise in favour of this motion. I commend Member Bisaro for bringing it forward and all Members who are in support of this motion as well. With the common use of cell phones, I-pads and computers in this day and age, it has become a common theme and a common occurrence that youth – not even youth – employees, adults do get bullied on a regular basis, and this definitely needs to be addressed and in the school system. Rather than just having one department take a look at it, I’d focus on the Department of Justice looking at how we can make the crime fit the issue of cyberbullying.
I do rise in support of this. I do hope that we get full support moving forward and that this can be addressed so that people can live in a healthy lifestyle and healthy role. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. To the motion. Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s hard to believe there is a day and age where we still allow people to treat others in an inferior manner, in a way that bullies, and not pull out every single stop to say no. I have spoken before about losing a friend because they trod a different path. I remember people bullying.
I remember about not standing up at the time because, being young and intimidated by others, you watch people do that. I’m not the only one who has lost friends over the years because of bullying. For whatever reason, it has driven people to horrible steps that they feel that suicide is the only way out or the only answer. That is a terrible thing, a terrible state of affairs for anyone to allow that. Yet, that seems to be, if not needs to be, the call to action or the call to arms by asking ourselves, can we continue to sit idly by.
It is quite frustrating knowing that people do this out there and yet there seems to be no powers or authority to stop them. Often we will say, don’t create laws that are difficult to enforce if not impossible to enforce. I think that if we really believe strongly in this type of initiative, we will find a way.
I’m not speaking from personal experience, but you often hear these stories about people who go home and feel humiliated because they’ve been humiliated by what they thought were their friends on the Internet. It’s hard to compare what it’s like to go to high school today when it was in my day, although I’m not as old as some of my colleagues here by far, but things were different then. The reality is that school has changed. Bullying has changed. What is important is the message that we need to find new ways and tools to stop bullying.
All I can say is that it is a difficult subject to talk about. Your heart wants to do the communicating and, in some ways, you are trying to say it with words. But for someone with children in school, it is very troublesome to think that we allow kids to bully and we don’t do enough, and I think this motion speaks to the issue of trying to find new ways to stop this behavior.
They are doing it over the Internet, which can be happening from anywhere to anywhere from anyone to anyone. A lot of times it is anonymous, and self-esteem is a troublesome thing to grow into. It is hard to imagine being attacked relentlessly by some people day in and day out.
As I said earlier, it is a shame that certain people have to go to the last resort of suicide to feel that was the only way they could send a statement. As a parent, it is quite upsetting to think that, and I hope that, I know from my perspective and I am sure you as well, Mr. Speaker, who has one of many children there, I hope my kids never feel that that is the only way they can communicate. If I ever catch them doing it, that will be another story, but the reality here is that this is a step forward and we need to fight this fight on every front to provide access and safety for all youth as well as everybody. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mrs. Groenewegen.
Mr. Speaker, I too will be supporting this motion as it is brought forward today. When we think of the agonizing role that parents play sometimes in trying to find solutions and comfort children that are being bullied in school, we figuratively say it is criminal. Mr. Speaker, it should be, literally, criminal. We should not allow young people to do things to each other that adults could not do to each other.
When you see the harm that is brought about by bullying, we need to take it to a different level. It is time to stop saying kids will be kids, or turning a blind eye to this. This should not be acceptable under any circumstances. For all of the parents who have tried to support children, and for all of the children who have been victims of bullying, I think that this motion here in the House today, and the motions that will be coming forward in Legislatures in jurisdictions across the country, is a strong message that we validate that what they have been through and we say enough is enough, it has to stop. Thank you.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you. Mr. Speaker, late last fall I met with my Justice counterparts in Regina. One of the items that we addressed was this very issue. We talked about how we could do more to help support those who have had their intimate photos shared on social media sources without their consent.
While the Internet has brought positive emotional, economic and social benefits to society, it also provides some users with a weapon to inflict real harm. We have seen those results in several heartbreaking cases over this past year. Typically, the destructive actions start with someone sharing intimate photos of a person, with the intention of humiliating them or to seek revenge. The victims we have heard about recently have been female, but it can affect anyone. The distribution of these images is so rapid and pervasive, it can have devastating consequences for the victim.
The Criminal Code currently has provisions relating to child pornography. While this is one means of dealing with this issue, when the victim is a teenager, this remedy doesn’t address all of the situations. For adults, exchanging nude photos is, under most circumstances, illegal activity. There are several sections of the Criminal Code that can be used in some situations if they contain certain additional elements. Currently, when police throughout Canada receive complaints on this issue, there is very little they can do, unless it is accompanied by additional elements that may bring it within the existing criminal offence.
The taking and sharing of nude photos of people under the age of 18 is a violation of Canada’s child pornography laws; however, the child pornography section of the Criminal Code of Canada is intended to prevent the sexual exploitation of young people and is not necessarily focused on the issue of non-consensual distribution of intimate images.
Nova Scotia has recently requested that a new criminal offence be created as a hybrid to cover the publishing, printing, distributing, circulating, selling, advertising or making available, including visual recording, intimate images for malicious purposes. In April the Ministers responsible for Justice from across the country met in Ottawa and directed the Federal/Provincial/Territorial Cyber Crime Working Group to expedite its efforts in this area and bring its recommendations forward to the federal Minister as soon as the work is complete.
Later this month western Premiers will be discussing the steps being taken to recognize and address bullying and cyberbullying attacks on young people by their peers, and will be raising this important issue with the Council of Federation meeting in July.
As discussed with our colleagues on the other side of the House last week, I and my Cabinet colleagues are in support of this motion and will be voting in favour today. Our Legislature could stand with those across Canada, and the most recent being Saskatchewan, to support a legislative tool that will enable the justice system to deal with the malicious and destructive behaviours that are not yet able to be fully addressed. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. To the motion. Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just want to thank Member Bisaro and Members who spoke on this motion. I certainly will be supporting the motion. There was a time and a place in our history growing up that cyberbullying wasn’t even talked about for us older generations. Now these young ones need to be taught that it’s not okay, that it’s not okay in society to hurt other people and hide behind the computer, and hide behind technology, and go beyond their years of their adulthood and thinks it’s okay. It’s time that we say, as a Legislative Assembly, here that enough is enough and these young ones need to be taught to have respect and value life, and that the easy way out to pretend you’re not to go into this cyberbullying stuff and hurt other people. That is not right and that’s not cool.
So I support this motion and give a strong message to the young ones, from the wise old one, that to not value human life and not have respect is not okay. That’s the society that this Assembly is stating. We do not want to live that way.
I thank the mover and the seconder of this motion.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. I’ll allow the mover the closing remarks to the motion. Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank my colleagues for their words of support. I’d like to thank Mr. Bouchard for seconding the motion and allowing it to come to the floor.
