Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Cyber-bullying is a “live issue” for students at all the schools visited by the committee, though it appears to be a bigger problem in the larger more urban settings. Students identified several websites that they consider to be problematic because the participants are anonymous: whisper.com (“but everybody talks about it”), Ask.fm and Omegle.com (including Omegle Canada). The latter involves live chats with strangers including video. Awareness of these sites and sites of this type should be part of ECE’s communication plan for students, parents and schools.

Students frequently spoke about the need to “call them out on it” – the bully, that is – but admitted it can be hard to do and often is not done. The rise of cyber-bullying contributes to that problem. “There is more cyber-bullying than regular bullying now,” reported a student in Inuvik.

Public hearings were also held in Inuvik, Norman Wells, Yellowknife and Hay River, between September 23 and October 7, 2013. The unifying theme of these meetings is that bullying “is a community and societal problem, not simply a school problem or a family problem.” As one concerned observer said in Yellowknife, the goal should be to replace a culture of bullying with “a culture of peace and non-violence.”

From this general theme came recommendations to draft separate legislation specifically to address bullying in our society, community, cyberspace, workplaces and public venues. This may be a desirable approach, and Nova Scotia may serve as a national example in this regard, but it is well beyond the scope of Bill 12.

Some frustration was also expressed with the vagueness of Bill 12, due to the absence of information about the contents of the territorial code of conduct, safe schools plans and regulations. It remains unknown exactly what these policies will require of teachers, principals, education authorities and perhaps even parents.

Similarly, it came up in several public hearings that there is no reference in the bill to adults in schools who may be victims of bullying. This is a significant oversight which should be addressed in the territorial code of conduct, safe schools plans and regulations.

Many thoughtful and effective practices to reduce bullying are already in place at NWT schools. However, the committee also encountered inconsistency among teachers in the way bullying is handled, let alone across an education authority or the territory. While one teacher might stop bullying at the teasing level, another might say, “Handle it yourself.” Students often cited cases in which they believed nothing was done after bullying was reported.

At one hearing a young man said that after two years he finally just beat up the bully, but then saw the bully’s fear, and felt sorry. In Inuvik, a woman, now well-advanced in her studies for a Bachelor’s of Education degree, said she had been bullied so much, “I just wanted to give up and say, ‘this is it, I’m done.’” She said some students in Inuvik from Sachs Harbour have done just that, and put their education aside. Bullying is preventing students from getting the education they must have to succeed in today’s world.

These incidents speak strongly to the need for action against bullying. This should include support and, if necessary, training for teachers and principals tasked with responding to incidents of bullying.

Mr. Speaker, I would now like to turn the report over to my colleague from the Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya, for continuance.