Latest news with #KarlaBernard
Yahoo
20-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
P.E.I.'s longest-serving dairy bar celebrates 70th birthday
Island resident Paul Brown was at Victoria Park on Saturday, spending time with his dog, Harley, as 70th birthday celebrations were starting at the Kiwanis Dairy Bar in Charlottetown. Brown remembered visiting many years ago as a kid. He said that the dairy bar is only a few years older than he is. "Congratulations to the Kiwanis, they do such a great job with this dairy bar," he said. "So, it's been around a few years longer than I have, and I've eaten lots of ice cream from there," Brown said the park hasn't changed much over the years. "It's just so nice to see people here enjoying themselves," he said. The dairy bar celebrated its birthday and grand reopening at Victoria Park, offering free hot dogs and low prices for fries and ice cream, at only 70 cents. The renovations are the first major update for the space since the 1990s. Dozens of people showed up to the event, including members of the cadets, firefighters, a member of the Canadian Armed Forces and paramedics. Basil Hambly, a member of the Kiwanis Club and operator of the dairy bar, called Saturday a milestone. "For one, 70 years in business, and two, that it's a service club that the funds … help the community." The Kiwanis Club is an international, non-profit organization, founded in 1915. It serves children around the world. Proceeds from Saturday's event will be used to support the club's charitable efforts. Karla Bernard, the MLA for Charlottetown-Victoria Park, echoed Hambly's thoughts on the business staying open for so long. "I'm coming to celebrate with them and show my support," she said. "I think that's incredible, 70 years … not a lot of businesses, or a lot of organizations can say they've had a project going for that long," Bernard said. "So, I think that shows a lot about the organization and the individuals involved and their commitment to the community." Bernard said the club does a lot of great work in the local community. "It's a service the community loves," she said. "Dairy bars are so unique to P.E.I. "I think it's a special gem that we have in Victoria Park." Longtime volunteers Shantol Clarke volunteers at the Kiwanis Club. "It always feels good to see kids smiling and seeing what we can do in the community and throughout the world, so it's awesome," Clarke said. Clarke said some Kiwanis Club members are part of the different organizations that showed up, like paramedics. "We have some people in our club that actually work in some of these places, so we just asked them to come along and support the community," she said.
CBC
19-07-2025
- Business
- CBC
P.E.I.'s longest-serving dairy bar celebrates 70th birthday
Social Sharing Island resident Paul Brown was at Victoria Park on Saturday, spending time with his dog, Harley, as 70th birthday celebrations were starting at the Kiwanis Dairy Bar in Charlottetown. Brown remembered visiting many years ago as a kid. He said that the dairy bar is only a few years older than he is. "Congratulations to the Kiwanis, they do such a great job with this dairy bar," he said. "So, it's been around a few years longer than I have, and I've eaten lots of ice cream from there," Brown said the park hasn't changed much over the years. "It's just so nice to see people here enjoying themselves," he said. The dairy bar celebrated its birthday and grand reopening at Victoria Park, offering free hot dogs and low prices for fries and ice cream, at only 70 cents. The renovations are the first major update for the space since the 1990s. Dozens of people showed up to the event, including members of the cadets, firefighters, a member of the Canadian Armed Forces and paramedics. Basil Hambly, a member of the Kiwanis Club and operator of the dairy bar, called Saturday a milestone. "For one, 70 years in business, and two, that it's a service club that the funds … help the community." The Kiwanis Club is an international, non-profit organization, founded in 1915. It serves children around the world. Proceeds from Saturday's event will be used to support the club's charitable efforts. Karla Bernard, the MLA for Charlottetown-Victoria Park, echoed Hambly's thoughts on the business staying open for so long. "I'm coming to celebrate with them and show my support," she said. "I think that's incredible, 70 years … not a lot of businesses, or a lot of organizations can say they've had a project going for that long," Bernard said. "So, I think that shows a lot about the organization and the individuals involved and their commitment to the community." Bernard said the club does a lot of great work in the local community. "It's a service the community loves," she said. "Dairy bars are so unique to P.E.I. "I think it's a special gem that we have in Victoria Park." Longtime volunteers Shantol Clarke volunteers at the Kiwanis Club. "It always feels good to see kids smiling and seeing what we can do in the community and throughout the world, so it's awesome," Clarke said. Clarke said some Kiwanis Club members are part of the different organizations that showed up, like paramedics. "We have some people in our club that actually work in some of these places, so we just asked them to come along and support the community," she said.
CBC
13-05-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Proposed bill would require P.E.I. school boards to report sexual misconduct complaints
P.E.I.'s Green Party has introduced legislation that would require school boards on the Island to report complaints of sexual misconduct to the province's Education and Early Years Department. If the bill passes, both the Public Schools Branch and the French-language school board would have to provide the number of allegations to the education minister on an annual basis. The reports would not have to include the identifying information of anyone involved in the complaint. Karla Bernard, the Greens' interim leader, tabled the bill for first reading Tuesday after using her time during question period to ask the governing Progressive Conservatives if they'd support it. "[I] can't change what was done in the past, but we can move forward," P.E.I. Education Minister Robin Croucher said in response. "Absolutely, I think we can support your bill." The Greens introduced a similar amendment five years ago in light of the case of Roger Jabbour, the former band teacher at Colonel Gray High School who had been convicted in 2018 of sexually touching three female students. In 2020, Bernard put forward a proposed amendment to the province's Education Act that would require school boards to report annually on the number of sexual misconduct complaints. At the province's insistence, that amendment was turned into an order to be brought forward by then-education minister Brad Trivers, but that never happened. On Tuesday, Bernard said her party was able to put together a similar amendment in the wake of the case of former substitute teacher Matthew Alan Craswell. Craswell, 40, pleaded guilty on April 29 to sexual interference in a case involving an elementary student at Stratford's Glen Stewart Primary School in the spring of 2024. He was first arrested last summer on an unrelated charge of possession and distribution of child pornography, and RCMP learned of the Glen Stewart incident during their investigation. It was later revealed that another complaint of sexual touching had been made about Craswell's actions while he was teaching at Charlottetown's West Kent Elementary in 2023. In neither of the primary school complaints were police or Child Protective Services contacted, because school officials deemed Craswell's actions to be non-sexually motivated. The province has ordered a third-party review of the PSB's handling of the case that will be conducted by former P.E.I. chief justice David Jenkins. 'Leave school officials out of it' Bernard said Tuesday that while her bill wouldn't have prevented the Craswell incidents, it would be an important step in holding school officials accountable. "It's the very start of a centralized reporting mechanism, which is exactly what was identified as something that's been missing in P.E.I.," she said. "If there's been a complaint with a specific person named, they'll be able to see if there's been more than one… [and] if there's any trends that's happening." WATCH | Questions raised around 2020 pledge to provide transparency around misconduct complaints in schools: Questions raised around 2020 pledge to provide transparency around misconduct complaints in schools 4 days ago Duration 2:28 Back in 2020, after a P.E.I. high school band teacher was convicted of sexually touching three female students, the PEI government said it would start requiring school boards to report annually on the number of sexual misconduct complaints. A directive requiring that was drafted but never put in place. Interim Green Leader Karla Bernard (shown) wants to know why. CBC's Kerry Campbell reports. The bill will be called for a second reading on Wednesday after the Official Opposition Liberals gave Bernard some of their time in the legislature to introduce it on Tuesday. Premier Rob Lantz also indicated that he would likely support the amendment. Bernard also urged the government to create an independent body to review annual reports submitted by the school agencies, something that experts have said is a best practice. "In a lot of cases, it seems we're asking [school administrators] to be investigators, and that's just not their skill set. They're not trained to do that, nor is it a part of their job," she said.
CBC
10-05-2025
- Politics
- CBC
PCs broke 2020 promise to require P.E.I. school boards to report sexual misconduct: Greens
Social Sharing Questions were raised in the P.E.I. legislature Friday about why the government didn't follow through on a commitment it made five years ago to keep better tabs on sexual misconduct in Island schools. The Progressive Conservatives made that commitment in 2020 in light of the case of Roger Jabbour, the former band teacher at Colonel Gray High School who had been convicted in 2018 of sexually touching three female students. After the case had made its way through the court, Green MLA Karla Bernard put forward a proposed amendment to the Education Act to require school boards to report annually on the number of sexual misconduct complaints. At the province's insistence, that amendment was turned into an order to be brought forward by then-education minister Brad Trivers. That never happened, Bernard pointed out on Friday in the legislature. She said it's something that might have prevented an April 2024 case of sexual interference that took place in a Stratford elementary school. "To this day, we continue to experience the consequences of that inaction," Bernard said, in a question directed at P.E.I. Education Minister Robin Croucher, who took over the cabinet post in February. "Would you agree that Islanders' skepticism regarding this government's commitment to children's safety is well-deserved?" WATCH | Questions raised around 2020 pledge to provide transparency around misconduct complaints in schools: Questions raised around 2020 pledge to provide transparency around misconduct complaints in schools 3 hours ago Duration 2:28 Back in 2020, after a P.E.I. high school band teacher was convicted of sexually touching three female students, the PEI government said it would start requiring school boards to report annually on the number of sexual misconduct complaints. A directive requiring that was drafted but never put in place. Interim Green Leader Karla Bernard (shown) wants to know why. CBC's Kerry Campbell reports. Croucher suggested Bernard's question could be answered by the third-party review he has ordered of Public Schools Branch policies in light of the case of Matthew Alan Craswell, the former substitute teacher who pleaded guilty on April 29 to sexual interference involving an elementary student at Stratford's Glen Stewart Primary School. "I would agree that the public is looking for some answers and some leadership on this," Croucher said in the legislature. "I assure you that we have the very best person available in the province of Prince Edward Island to conduct the review into these questions." Province 'uncomfortable' with amendment In Jabbour's case, as in Craswell's, complaints were made to education authorities — who initially concluded the incidents were not sexual in nature. In 2020, Bernard and the Greens wrote up an amendment to the Education Act that would have required school boards to disclose annually how many complaints of sexual misconduct had been made, and whether they were found to be substantiated or unsubstantiated. "Government was very uncomfortable with this amendment," Bernard said after question period Friday. "They felt as though disclosing numbers would somehow identify students, and so the huge pushback was about confidentiality, which was addressed in the amendment." In the fall of 2021 — right around the time the first data about complaints was supposed to have been published — hundreds of students took to the streets to protest that their concerns about sexual harassment in schools weren't being taken seriously. This week, Bernard said publishing a number would have provided some measure of accountability — and might have flagged the first reported incident against Craswell at Charlottetown's West Kent Elementary School in 2023, the year before the Glen Stewart case. "That would have been a very small step towards ensuring that these issues aren't swept under the rug," Bernard said. "It's not the answer, that's for sure. We still need a centralized mechanism for recording these." Identifying patterns P.E.I.'s Public Schools Branch said it has adopted a centralized tracking system for staff complaints over the last school year. Some experts, however, say that reporting system could go a step further in ensuring students' safety. WATCH | Independent body needed to collect and track reports of wrongdoing, child protection advocate says: Independent body needed to collect and track reports of wrongdoing, child protection advocate says 1 day ago Duration 7:05 P.E.I.'s Public Schools Branch is under intense scrutiny over a substitute teacher who continued teaching after two separate incidents at Island schools. The PSB says it connected them only after Matthew Craswell's arrest on other charges. Craswell has now pleaded guilty to child porn and sexual touching charges. Noni Classen, the director of education and support services for the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, speaks to CBC's Louise Martin about the issues involved. Noni Classen, director of education and support services for the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, said such a system needs to be independent of both the government and the Public Schools Branch. She said that would ensure experts could identify patterns of behaviour, something that school administrators aren't trained to do. "What we need to have in place are systems that pick up these kinds of issues in case it is something nefarious at play [so] that there's a record of it and it's landing on individuals who have expertise," Classen told CBC News: Compass host Louise Martin this week. "Sometimes that can't happen at a school level because if an individual moves and goes to a different school… there isn't a capability to be able to put the reports together because it's not centralized."
CBC
09-05-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Questions raised around 2020 pledge to provide transparency around misconduct complaints in schools
Back in 2020, after a P.E.I. high school band teacher was convicted of sexually touching three female students, the PEI government said it would start requiring school boards to report annually on the number of sexual misconduct complaints. A directive requiring that was drafted but never put in place. Interim Green Leader Karla Bernard (shown) wants to know why. CBC's Kerry Campbell reports.
