38th PARLIAMENT, 1st SESSION

(October 4, 2004 - )

Edited Hansard • Number 110

Tuesday, June 7, 2005

STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS

Mr. Garry Breitkreuz (Yorkton—Melville, CPC): Mr. Speaker, I just received a letter from a constituent, Mrs. Carol Sleeva of Canora, Saskatchewan and I would like to read from it. She states:

My 16-year-old son Travis committed suicide on December 6, 2004, after several months of harassment from a group of school students. In his suicide letter he stated that he “just cannot take the fighting anymore”. I am writing in anticipation that you would be able to bring my message to Parliament for the following urgent request: Please revamp the Youth Justice Act to include “bullying” under the Criminal Code. This will allow for the RCMP to start putting an end to this hateful crime. The Youth Justice Act has obviously not been a deterrent for young offenders; in fact it is a joke to them. Our children need to be able to go to school and out in the community feeling safe and free from harassment from those who choose to be bullies in our society.

I have started work on what I hope will eventually lead to the introduction of “Travis' bill” in this House. We need to urgently amend the Young Offenders Act and implement a multi-pronged strategy to address the serious bullying problem in Canada.

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