MLAs ask questions after Orlando
Education minister takes grilling on what his department is doing to protect LGBTQ students
John McFadden
Northern News Services
Wednesday, June 22, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Following the June 12 mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla., MLAs used question period last week to ask Education Minister Alfred Moses about what the government is doing to protect those in the LGBTQ community.
Both Yellowknife North MLA Cory Vanthuyne and Kam Lake MLA Kieron Testart expressed their concerns last Monday. They both said they feel more could be done, particularly in the territory's schools, to protect LGBTQ students.
"Adolescence is a tough time when young people face the challenges of maturing, learning who they are as people and dealing in many incidences with adult responsibilities. That's hard enough but for LGBTQ youth it presents even greater challenges," Vanthuyne told the assembly.
"That's why teachers, the front-line workers and the school community need to have real tools to make schools safe for all students."
He pointed to a Canadian survey that shows teachers think schools are a less safe place for LGBTQ students compared to the general school population overall, due to bullying and sexual harassment.
Testart agreed. He said hatred and intolerance are holding back the NWT and society as a whole from progressing.
"We must continue embracing our fellow Northerners for it is love that makes us stronger, it is love borne from our diversity and borne of our love of freedom," Testart said.
"As leaders of this government what we can do is to celebrate our diversity and speak out against hate whenever we see it."
Vanthuyne asked Moses why the education department has not included certain Yellowknife-based youth advocate organizations when putting together its safe schools plan, which is to be finalized this fall.
The Department of Education, Culture and Employment has been working on the plan since 2013 as a way to combat bullying in schools.
"When the department was developing the external working group which was responsible for drafting policy for safe and caring schools, why didn't the department include outside groups with direct access to LGBTQ youths, such as Arctic FOXY or It Gets Better, Yellowknife?" Vanthuyne asked.
In response, Moses said he would talk to his department and make sure they reach out to those organizations in the development of its safe and caring schools manual.
"In that manual, there is a section that explicitly focuses on the LGBTQ education, history, and concerns, addressing such topics as sexual identity, gender bullying, suicide, social and emotional learning and diversity," Moses said. "We will reach out to (those organizations) and see if there is any specific areas that they would like to see incorporated into the manual."
Testart then started thinking outside the classroom, asking Moses what the government is doing to promote safety for LGBTQ students when they are not in school.
"Outside of the school, that is very hard to regulate," said Moses. "We are looking at ways that we can do it on the school grounds. But outside, inside the communities, is always something tough. It takes a whole community to address these issues and that is something we want to encourage residents of the NWT to speak up, step up and to make sure that it is not accepted in our communities."
That same day, Speaker Jackson Lafferty expressed condolences to the family and friends of the victims of the Orlando shooting on behalf of the government.
In a written statement released last Wednesday, the NWT Human Rights Commission also condemned the violence in Orlando and encouraged people to speak out whenever they see intolerance.
