Prime Minister Stephen Harper is making all the right moves in addressing the issue of cyberbullying in Canada but local people want him to go further.
Last week the prime minister and Vic Toews, minister of Public Safety, met with families whose children were victims of cyberbullying, including Carol Todd, the mother of Port Coquitlam teen Amanda Todd. The aim of the the meeting was to discuss ways of ending online harassment and exploitation, which has become an epidemic with the rise of social media, with the further goal of addressing gaps in the Canadian Criminal Code related to cyberbullying.
This comes as good news to many parents looking for the federal government to take a tougher stand against anonymous, threatening and demeaning comments made by children and adults in the online environment.
Tightening legal loopholes in the Canadian Criminal Code is the only way get cyberstalkers and others to take notice because local efforts, such as bylaws prohibiting this kind of behaviour, can't do the job.
Port Coquitlam, for example, wanted to be the first city in B.C. to have an anti-bullying bylaw, but after a review of legal jurisprudence, concluded that only the Criminal Code should be used to address serious bullying behaviour.
To that end, the Tri-Cities Family Court and Justice is looking for several amendments to the Criminal Code to ensure that it includes bullying by electronic means, assigns appropriate consequences and a restorative justice approach where appropriate.
Carol Todd, who met with Harper and has been a strong advocate of awareness and tougher laws to prevent cyberbullying, also wants to see the federal government take action and will not let up her vigil until new laws are in place.
The prime minister has been more than willing to listen and his Conservative government has a good record for coming down on the side of the victims. But a nuanced approach to this difficult issue is needed, and sooner, rather than later.
