Mr. Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge that this week is Anti-Bullying Week. Anti-Bullying Week was started by Bill Belsey, a teacher in Alberta. We thank Bill for his advocacy, and all teachers for doing their part to make our schools inclusive and safe places for all children to learn and thrive.
One in three Canadian kids report being bullied. In a study looking at 35 countries, Canada had the ninth worst rate of bullying among 13 year olds.
Among adults in the workplace, the numbers are remarkably similar.
We are not doing enough and government inaction on a national bullying prevention strategy only exasperates the situation. We cannot be bystanders. As adults and parliamentarians, we owe our youth more and we owe each other more.
We, as parliamentarians, are not exempt. We, too, must examine our behaviour and pledge again this week, and all weeks, our continued commitment to do better, to be better and to expect better.