Photo: Hanna’s J.C. Charyk School Vice Principal Ryan Duckworth spoke to Hanna town council regarding the bullying bylaw Mar. 25. Screenshot

Hanna council ask for input from RCMP, vice principal

The Town of Hanna council seemed interested in moving away from the municipal “bullying bylaw” that’s been on the books for over 10 years. The topic was discussed at the Mar. 25 committee of the whole (COW) meeting.

As Bylaw Officer Skye Suntjens was gathering information from council on a proposed community standards bylaw, Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Matthew Norburn mentioned an existing document, the bullying bylaw, and asked if councillors wanted to include it in this discussion.

The CAO pointed out the bylaw, adopted in 2012 when a number of other Alberta municipalities did the same thing, hasn’t been heavily used. “Since we passed the bylaw in 2012 we’ve never done anything with the bylaw,” said Norburn. “There’s not been bullying tickets issued or anything like that.”

Coun. Ericka Rorabeck stated that she felt the term “bullying” is used too broadly, noting that, for example, in a disagreement one person may accuse another of bullying if they don’t agree on something.

Norburn stated he invited two guests to speak to council about this issue, Hanna RCMP detachment commander Sgt. Rob Welsman and J.C. Charyk School Vice Principal Ryan Duckworth.

Welsman agreed with the CAO, stating that to his knowledge no charge had ever been laid under Hanna’s bullying bylaw. In fact, Welsman stated that verbal issues like insults and name-calling can be difficult to prosecute in any event under free speech laws. “If someone were to issue a bylaw ticket on the basis of name-calling, that could be challenged in the courts on the basis of freedom of speech,” said Sgt. Welsman.

Welsman also noted that some issues included in a bullying bylaw, like extortion, theft or harassment, are actually Criminal Code matters for police.

He further noted that matters that occur in school between children could also be resolved through restorative justice methods.

Vice Principal Duckworth provided councillors with some stats on bullying and also described the school administration's “proactive approach.” Duckworth stated that in a school, peer conflict is commonplace.

However, Duckworth did acknowledge recent social media comments made about the school that he described as “...unfavourable public notices on Facebook.”

Duckworth noted schools also work with younger students on developing empathy and skills to get along with other kids and adults; he pointed out he’s worked in five schools and Hanna’s J.C. Charyk is not unique in any way and issues facing Hanna’s school exist in other schools and communities too.

He further pointed out the school has resources available to deal with issues such as a family resource worker.

As councillors discussed the bullying bylaw and comments made by council’s guests, it was noted social media posts can be misleading or untrue but can also be difficult to combat. Councillors went back and forth on the bullying bylaw’s usefulness and whether it’s actually a “paper tiger,” as Mayor Danny Povaschuk said.

The CAO observed that the town can set standards of behaviour for its facilities that guests must follow and councillors can, if they wish, repeal the bullying bylaw if they don’t feel it’s useful.

It was noted the community standards bylaw will be brought back for approval at a future council meeting.