Ontario is the first in Canada to publicly report when education workers have been involved in sexual abuse and/or other serious criminal proceedings.
The announcement came today from Education Minister Stephen Lecce and Jane McKenna, Associate Minister of Children and Women’s Issues.
This will also include information available to parents/families about proceedings that are under way before a verdict is established.
Lecce when on to say that retro-active lifetime bans will also be imposed for individuals who engaged in physical sexual abuse of children for previous similar acts who’s memberships where re-instated and not revoked in the first place.
The province is also mandating that all certified educators must complete a mandatory sexual abuse prevention program by Sept. 2022.
Previous actions from the province include:
- Lifetime bans on any educator who has engaged in physical sexual relations with a student or is involved in any way with child pornography.
- The lifetime ban imposed on educators for engaging in physical sexual abuse of students and children also applies retroactively for previous similar acts by teachers and early childhood educators whose memberships were reinstated or were not revoked in the first place.
- A requirement that both the Ontario College of Teachers (OCT) and the College of Early Childhood Educators (CECE) provide funding for therapy and counselling to students and children who are victims of sexual abuse, a prohibited act involving pornography or prescribed sexual acts prohibited under the Criminal Code (Canada).
- A requirement to make publicly available information about disciplinary decisions made by the Colleges’ Discipline Committees, including for less serious acts leading to reprimands and admonishments, on the OCT and CECE registers and websites on a permanent basis.
More details on the announcement can be read here.
