Amending the Education Act with respect to bullying

Recommendations regarding Bill 13 – An Act to amend the Education Act with respect to bullying and other matters and Bill 14 – An Act to designate Bullying Awareness and Prevention Week in Schools and to provide for bullying prevention curricula, policies and administrative accountability in schools

The following is a brief outline of Egale's response to the current text of Bills 13 and 14. While Egale agrees with the spirit and intent behind much of the text of Bill 13, we feel that the bill contains multiple instances of ambiguous and incorrect language which may diminish its impact and lead to extensive difficulties in implementation.

Egale finds Bill 14 seriously weakened by its generic treatment of bullying conditions and its failure to address some of the key social causes, conditions and implications of bullying (eg. homophobia, transphobia, and biphobia). Prof. Elizabeth Saewyc's (UBC) work in BC shows that rates of suicide have been steadily declining in BC for the general population of grade 8 to 12 students over the last ten years period where schools have developed generic anti-bullying programs – but not for LGBTQ students.

Generic policies do not work for LGBTQ youth. For a detailed response to Bill 14, specifically addressing the dangers of adopting certain sections, Egale refers the Committee to the presentation and report submitted by the Ontario GSA Coalition, of which Egale is a member.

For more information:
Helen Kennedy
Egale Canada
416-270-1999/416-964-7887 ext. 21

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