FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 5, 2025
Statement from Karla Bernard: Government must take responsibility for systemic failures in education protecting Island students
Charlottetown, PE – What has come to light in recent reporting about the Public Schools Branch’s response to the Matthew Craswell case is deeply concerning and calls into question the priorities of this government.
After a substitute teacher pled guilty to sexually touching a young student, the response from leadership at the PSB and from government was not swift accountability or urgent reform, it was damage control. Internal emails show that just days after Craswell’s guilty plea, the PSB and the Minister of Education were not focused on understanding how this was allowed to happen and ensuring it would not happen again. Instead, they hired a public relations firm to control their messaging and avoid further damage to their reputation.
This is not a failure of frontline educators. Teachers and principals work every day to educate, protect and support Island students. This is a failure of systems, systems that were supposed to screen out predators, respond appropriately to complaints, and act decisively when student safety was at risk. Those systems failed, and government leadership failed with them.
The PSB admits that until now it had no dedicated sexual misconduct policy. It did not connect prior allegations against Craswell. It refused to share information with the public. It redacted most of its internal documentation and instead invested $20,000 in spin. This is not acceptable behaviour for a public body.
Premier Lantz, Minister Croucher and the rest of the PC MLAs have remained passive in the face of a clear failure of our system and a failure to protect students. Instead of government taking accountability, Island families are being asked to wait for the results of a review that won’t be completed until after students are already back in the classroom.
Upon learning of the system gaps exposed by the Craswell case, I, with the support of my Green Party caucus members Matt MacFarlane and Peter Bevan-Baker, knew immediately that something had to be done. As members of the opposition we know that holding government to account is important, but equally important is using our legislative privileges to enact change that benefit Islanders.
In response to the Matthew Craswell case, our caucus was the only party to bring forward changes to the Education Act. These changes mandate all educational authorities have sexual misconduct policies and track and report accusations of sexual misconduct (without revealing any identifying information).
Islanders deserve MLAs who work for their benefit. Opposition members must be willing and able to hold government accountable, and enact positive change when government refuses. With the next school year just around the corner, the PCs should be prioritizing student safety over taxpayer-funded public relation campaigns.
Karla Bernard
MLA Charlottetown-Victoria Park
Third Party Critic for Education
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For media inquiries, please contact:
Katie Rankin
Chief of Staff
Office of the Third Party
Tel: (902) 213-6378
Email: kerankin@assembly.pe.ca