Status of Women committee  I'm really glad you mentioned that because I was just thinking about it. Back in 2014-15, the Conservatives brought up Bill C-13. You can google it. It was about protecting Canadians online. They called it a cyber-bullying bill, but to me it's not about cyber-bullying. It's abo

Status of Women committee  As educators, we talk about apps. They're great to use. Emmanuel's app is the first stage, but you also need the stage after there's been an alert, and what happens. My big concern is.... Apps can be downloaded onto a young child's phone, but what happens with a teenager who's 13

Status of Women committee  That's a big question. That's a question that has been floating around for a long time. I also have to say that October 10 is World Mental Health Day, and that's the day when Amanda took her life, not realizing it was World Mental Health Day, so awareness is really important. T

Status of Women committee  Thank you for the question. Twelve years ago, back in 2009, when Amanda's victimization started by her online predator, we weren't very much aware of what was happening on the Internet, as parents, educators or law enforcement. We have learned so much in the last 12 years. I hav

Status of Women committee  Dear standing committee members, thank you for this invitation to speak in front of your committee and provide thoughts contributing to the focus of mental health issues experienced by young women and girls, with attention to online harms and how these can greatly impact the self

Status of Women committee  Can everyone hear me?

Status of Women committee  Okay. I will start. Dear committee members, thank you for this invitation to—

Status of Women committee  I think that nothing is ever enough, but there are campaigns out there by different organizations and companies that focus on girls. We don't talk enough to our boys about how they need to respect females and how they need to behave to be “proper gentlemen”. We need to focus on h

Status of Women committee  Leah and I are often met with roadblocks when we are speaking out to schools or organizations only because no one wants to hear the words suicide and mental health. But our daughters' stories go far deeper than that, and there are life lessons to be learned. For us as parents, it

Status of Women committee  I would certainly agree with what Leah is saying, that in every province and every jurisdiction it is different. If you go to cybercrime teams and ICE teams, they of course have more information on how to handle certain cases than on how to handle others. We can't deflect any cas

Status of Women committee  There are a few cellphone providers in our country. Each one of them seems to have a different platform. One has mental health. Another one has e-health and social media safety. They all need to be working on the same page and the same issue, because they all distribute the same

Status of Women committee  No. No, there aren't enough resources. There isn't enough compensation. There aren't enough supports out there for people who have been victimized, not only through cyber-violence but also through sexual assaults and with rape. The story goes on and on, and we're not just talking

Status of Women committee  When we told our personal story to the law enforcement agency, I too initially felt that we were dismissed. The week after the image was reported and we went in to talk to the RCMP, we were made to feel that they were looking at Amanda as a dysfunctional child who had issues of h

Status of Women committee  I think so. Some people actually go after Leah and me and say we're only doing this for fame. I would give this all up in a heartbeat. On my plane ride here, I was in tears. I really shouldn't have to be on that plane to come and sit in front of this committee and talk about my

Status of Women committee  I think we have different silos. I have always said that we work in three different silos. We work on prevention, intervention, and reaction. Many times, when it comes to law enforcement, that is the reactionary side. We, as Canadians, educators, parents, and communities, need to