|
PUBLICATION:
The Leader-Post (Regina) ----------------------------------------------------------------- Bullying bylaw
expected to be ready within a month During Wednesday's meeting of the Board of Police Commissioners, it was announced the city's new anti-bullying bylaw should soon be ready to head back into city council chambers for consideration and is currently in the drafting phase in the city solicitor's office. Following the meeting, Mayor Pat Fiacco said the new bylaw is intended to be inclusive so that it impacts people of all ages, in both schools and the workplace. "The solicitor is putting together the bylaw and it will be ready for us in April," said Fiacco. "We are working with community partners that have come forward and said they want to participate and obviously the Red Cross has already been active with some of the programs, so they met with police, they met with me and there's a great partnership that can be formed there, especially on the education side." The Red Cross's Beyond the Hurt branch has been administering its educational anti-bullying program, RespectED, within schools and has now offered to team up with the city and local police to help make the new bylaw work. The program addresses causes and gives students tools and techniques to respond to bullying. "It's important that we get into the schools and at a very young age talk to children about the effects of bullying, both from the offender and the victim," said Fiacco. Education is also the key in situations of workplace bullying, said city police Chief Cal Johnston. "(It's) inviting somebody in who knows about bullying and is able to teach both administrators, but employees as well, so that you can develop policies and you can better understand it when you see it," he said. Johnston said the department has been getting some good feedback from people who are pleased with the idea of the anti-bullying bylaw. But along with that feedback are questions. "People are wondering to what extend will it be used and to what extent will it sort of move across the community," he said. "And our answer to that is, we don't anticipate using the bylaw to lay charges a lot. It will depend on circumstances, on cases. But what we do believe will come from it is a very clear definition in our community around what is tolerated behaviour and what's not. And that's going to be very helpful for everybody, helpful in schools, helpful in workplaces, helpful in public events." Fiacco said some people have been expressing concern about ability to pay should they receive a fine for bullying. He said there is a possibility of the amount -- which has not yet been determined -- being paid off through community work or other methods. "The key here isn't to penalize ... innocent people here -- this is to help those that are victims of bullying, but also those that are the ones that are causing the bullying," said Fiacco. "They need to understand that it's a behaviour that's unacceptable and the effects could lead to some serious consequences, both for the individual that is causing the bullying and also for the victim." |