Press Release
The NDP supports the Progressive Conservative resolution advocating for a “Bullying Awareness and Prevention Week,” NDP education critic Rosario Marchese said last Thursday.
“The New Democrats support any initiative that focuses attention on bullying and the government’s failure to deal with it,” said Marchese.
“What we have is not a culture of silence but a culture of inaction,” he charged.
“The inaction starts at the top, with a government that acknowledges the seriousness of bullying but consistently fails to take responsibility for it.”
Marchese added the government’s recent Bill 157 established mandatory reporting of incidents, but fails to address the root causes of violence or bullying—and it does not give teachers the supports they need to address it.
“If mandatory reporting and zero tolerance worked, the Safe Schools Act would not have been the spectacular failure it was,” Marchese argued.
The New Democrats call on the government to take seriously the recommendations made by the Falconer Report, which were designed to prevent violent incidents—not simply count them.
