FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 13, 2026

Statement from Karla Bernard on Jenkins report on sexual misconduct in Island schools

Charlottetown, PE – I welcome the release of the report Student Safety in Island Schools: Handling of Complaints and Incidents of Staff Sexual Misconduct from former Chief Justice Jenkins, and would like to take this opportunity to thank him for the thoughtful manner in which he conducted the work for this review.

From the report, it is clear that safety issues exist, are pervasive and that schools, like anywhere children gather, are vulnerable places. The protection of children is a societal responsibility and this report helps identify where the gaps are that prevented this protection from happening in Island schools. There is a light at the end of the tunnel to make the system better and safer for children, and government must now roll up its sleeves and get to work.

Although the report finds that the existing policies are generally satisfactory, they are often not consulted or executed properly when an issue arises. A big take away for me is how much work we have to do on educating adults and young people on signs of grooming so that when we get that feeling that something just does not feel right, we have the confidence and knowledge to speak up in the name of protecting children.

Jenkins went out of his way to report that while it was and has been a very challenging time for school administration, they were found to have acted appropriately in the Craswell case. School administrators would like to see clarification in the context of their supervisory role. It is clear that the widespread belief that we have committed, passionate and talented administrators, teachers and support staff working in our schools is reflected in the report, and I would like to sincerely thank them all.

Critical to the successful implementation of many of the report’s recommendations is increased funding. Expanded human and financial resources will allow the system to work optimally, and will benefit schools, teachers, support staff, administrators, parents, and children. Communication between departments and agencies must no longer live in silos. The communication lines between all those involved, including parents, must be immediately prioritized.

Another of the report’s recommendations for a centralized tracking system is also crucial and urgent. A system that is coordinated, has a single accountable body and has effective record keeping that notices patterns is desperately needed.

One thing that Jenkins mentions repeatedly in the report is that bullying is of grave concern. While the scope of his report was simply dealing with sexual misconduct, I feel that bullying is too critical and widespread an issue to not merit mentioning. Ongoing bullying is something we hear from students, parents, administrators, teachers and support staff, and clearly Jenkins heard it too. Schools are not equipped to deal with all the forms this takes.

The recommendations that stem from this report are crucial to have in place and chart a clear path forward. Like many of these reports, it takes political will to implement. The Minister of Education and the Department have a lot of work to do as we consider this report as well as the Inclusion Report, and one should not supersede the other. Government must now work diligently to ensure schools are safe and healthy learning environments for our children and everyone who supports them on their learning journey.

Karla Bernard
MLA Charlottetown-Victoria Park
Third Party Critic for Education

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Katie Rankin
Chief of Staff
Office of the Third Party
Tel: (902) 213-6378
Email: kerankin@assembly.pe.ca