Federal lawmakers are considering a motion that would lay the groundwork for a national strategy to prevent bullying, just days after the suicide of a B.C. teen who was bullied.
NDP MP Dany Morin’s motion, introduced last June, is being debated in the House of Commons on Monday morning.
If the motion eventually passes, the House would appoint a special non-partisan committee to develop a federal anti-bullying strategy, Morin told CP24.
The committee would explore the impact of bullying and look at anti-prevention measures undertaken by other countries, with advice and other information ultimately being provided to families and schools, he said.
Morin, who admits to being bullied when he was a teenager, said his motion does not seek criminalization of bullying because criminal charges against bullies would not solve the problem.
Instead, the motion focuses on prevention efforts, with a component including increased funding and support for anti-bullying organizations, said Morin, who represents the Quebec riding of Chicoutimi-Le Fjord and, at the age of 26, is one of Canada's youngest MPs.
Morin said the federal government must be a leader in what's become a nationwide problem.
“In the last year, I had to rise too many times in the House of Commons to note the suicide of a bullied youth,” he said.
The debate is being held as RCMP investigate the death of 15-year-old Amanda Todd, who was found dead in her family’s Port Coquitlam, B.C., home last Wednesday.
The B.C. Coroners Service has said that preliminary indications suggested Todd took her own life.
Her death has garnered international attention and prompted increased calls for anti-bullying measures because of a video she posted to YouTube in September.
In the video, Todd described the torment she suffered during years of bullying, largely on Internet social networks.
Police are investigating whether bullying pushed Todd to take her own life, and they have received more than 400 tips from around the world as they investigate the death.
More than 20 full-time investigators are working on the case, RCMP said.
Police are asking people to stop posting inappropriate and hurtful comments and images online that continue to re-victimize the Todd family.
According to BullyingCanada.ca, about one in 10 children have bullied others and as many as 25 per cent of children in grades four to six have been bullied.
In 2004, a Journal of Pediatrics study found that about one in seven Canadian children aged 11 to 16 are victims of bullying, according to the website.
Victims had significantly higher chances for depression and psychosomatic symptoms compared with children not involved in bullying behavior, the study found.
With files from CTV News and The Canadian Press
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