As part of the Supporting Children and Students Act, introduced by the Ford government at the end of last month, is a provision whereby public school boards would be required to implement School Resource Officer (SRO) programs in areas where they are offered by local police services.This is to take effect in the fall.
In 2021, the Thames Valley District School Board hit the pause button on the School Resource Officer program board-wide.
That prompted Dave Jenkins, chair of the Elgin Group Police Services Board, to advocate for a return of the SRO program.
He wrote to the school board, noting, “We understand that the TVDSB paused the SRO program in fall 2021 following a survey that found some students had negative experiences. While we respect the decision to review the program and address these concerns, it is crucial to recognize that the presence of police officers in our schools serves a vital role in ensuring the safety and well-being of our students, teachers, and staff.”
Since then, there has been a review of the program, but no indication that the officers were to return to schools.
With the return of the program now imminent, we spoke last week with St. Thomas Police Chief Marc Roskamp, a strong proponent of SROs.
“It will be all jurisdictions in this region,” pointed out Roskamp. “So we fall into that in St. Thomas. It will include London, Aylmer, and the OPP. It’ll probably go as far as Woodstock. They’re also in the Thames Valley District School Board.”
He continued, “I’ve been meeting with the board of directors and principals and vice-principals and teachers and parents and my police services board and my city council for years on this issue.
“It’s been a problem for a number of years, where it started as a review committee pre-COVID, then it went through COVID and came to a halt.”
And so the pending legislation is welcome news for Roskamp and the members of the St. Thomas Police Service.
“We have a gap in service delivery for a number of obligations that we owe the community. We owe our young people their safety in schools, and we’ve seen an increase of nearly 60% in violence in schools in the city of St. Thomas alone. Behaviours have just been allowed to kind of get out of hand, to be quite honest.
“I’m not saying the police are the only answer. What I’m saying is we are a piece of the answer, and in our lane, our attendance, our presence, equals deterrence.
“And if we can put police officers in key locations at key times, that’s part of the right care, right people approach that I believe in, and that we will start to knock down some of this violence just by the fact that we’re present or kids think we may be present at some point.
“And it’s going to create safer, more connected communities by fostering trust and building relationships with youth and teachers and the whole school community. It’s just a proactive presence. It is more than just law enforcement. And that’s where this went off the rails, to be quite honest.”
“It’s just going to stop. These bathroom beatdowns, these hallway fights, this bullying, these sexual assaults, just the crimes that are happening in schools and that are going unaddressed.
“It’s a gap in crime prevention for me. That’s an obligation that’s required as a ministry adequacy standard that I have to provide, and I’m not able to fully engage with our youth. We’re trying to find new ways to do that to prevent crime.”
Roskamp continued, “And so specifically this legislation would require school boards to engage with our school resource officer program, and it would be on a volunteer basis if we wanted to provide that service, which we do.
“And it’s going to create safer, more connected communities by fostering trust and building relationships with youth and teachers and the whole school community. It’s just a proactive presence.
“It is more than just law enforcement. And that’s where this went off the rails, to be quite honest.
“And so our presence is an early crime prevention tactic, and it serves as a deterrent. And we’ve been saying this for years. And to be quite honest, there’s just not much more we could say.”
“And we know there are a lot of marginalized communities who have had negative experiences back home with their governments. But we want to make sure that every student has an opportunity to thrive. And we believe our presence has many advantages.
“This is Canada, and specifically in Ontario. And our engagement in schools is always based on those shared goals amongst police and educators, and community stakeholders to make school environments safe for all.”
Roskamp stressed, “We have trained police officers who provide mentoring opportunities and develop relationships with young people and educators and break down those cultural barriers and work collaboratively.
“That’s always been the goal with members of the school community. It really is just about building trust.”
Over the years, the police service has had a half-dozen or more officers who have spent a considerable amount of time building positive relationships with students.
“And it built trust. And that’s just a commitment to our youth that we want to continue. And it builds bridges, and it prevents those emergencies that we don’t want. We don’t want an emergency in a school setting.
“And so our presence is an early crime prevention tactic, and it serves as a deterrent. And we’ve been saying this for years. And to be quite honest, there’s just not much more we could say.
“We’ll still work with our boards to make sure that it’s the right people that we put into these roles. They have the right training. It’s the right mandate. It was never meant to enforce. It was never meant to gather intelligence on kids.”
“We knew the data would speak, and it did speak. There has been 60 per cent more violence over the course of the last three years in schools in St. Thomas. And our attendance was almost once every two days at schools.
“So I took a concerted effort to make sure our community knew about it. And I brought it to every committee I sit on. I brought it to the community. I brought it to parents. I put out every single incident in the school in media releases.
“So our community got a grasp of what’s actually happening in our schools because I was told by many parents that they were not aware. They expected we would always be in our schools and be there for their kids. And it’s just not the case.”
Police officers in schools are not the sole answer,” advised Roskamp.
“It should be a consortium of police and mental health professionals and teachers, and educators. And together, that’s how we collaborate. And that’s the vision, the right care, the right people.
“But we do have a lane to make sure our kids are safe and the teachers are safe and the whole community is safe.
“I can tell you in recent days, I’ve been encouraged by both the school board directors who have met with me, and they’re on board with trying to get back, prior to this announcement, to some form of police in schools.
“We’ll still work with our boards to make sure that it’s the right people that we put into these roles. They have the right training. It’s the right mandate. It was never meant to enforce. It was never meant to gather intelligence on kids.
“This is where the narrative went over the last several years, and it’s complete nonsense. And it actually created less safe schools over the last several years. And we’ve got to get back.
“We understand the sensitivities with the marginalized communities that are emigrating to Canada and those who have had negative experiences in their homelands. To perpetuate that issue here by removing police does not add to the trust that we want in Canada, in Ontario.
“And here we engage and we’re a friendly presence and we’re there to help and support in a number of ways. And our removal just doesn’t speak to what our obligations are to serve our communities. No, it’s turning a blind eye to a perceived problem.”
Last fall, the Sault Ste. Marie Police Service announced a renewed partnership with the Algoma District School Board and the Huron-Superior Catholic District School Board that will herald the return of a full-time, uniformed High School Liaison Officer to local high schools.
According to a release from the police service, “This partnership will provide students, staff, and families with enhanced safety, education, and relationship-building opportunities.”
Police Chief Hugh Stevenson indicated, “We are excited to see the return of a full-time High School Liaison Officer to our schools.
“It’s important for youth to connect with police officers as people, not just as law enforcement.”
You can read that City Scope item here.
STANDING FOR THOSE WHO SEEK TO CELEBRATE AND PRESERVE CANADA
Elgin-St. Thomas-London South MP Andrew Lawton made his maiden speech in Parliament on May 29, and we briefly referenced it last week.
In particular, his comment, “I am here to tell the Liberals that their assaults on freedom will not stand. I am putting them on notice.”
Here are the highlights from Lawton’s speech.
“I’m very aware, as I enter this chamber, that this seat does not belong to me. It belongs to the people of my riding. I vow and pledge to be a faithful custodian of this seat, however long I have the honour of sitting in it and serving and representing my constituents.“Now, one thing I love about my riding is how much of the wide array of Canada is embodied in my riding.
“We have rural communities and small towns. We have the fast-growing city of St. Thomas. We’ve got the incredibly vibrant community of London. My riding is home to beachside villages and fisheries. We’ve got small businesses and manufacturing powerhouses.
“We’ve got 1,400-plus farms, ranging from small family farms that feed the communities around them to large agricultural enterprises whose harvests end up on plates around the world. The County of Elgin, the riding of Elgin-St. Thomas-London South is a success story, and it is my honour to be able to represent them in this chamber as their Member of Parliament.
“But it’s people in these rural and smaller communities in particular who have felt most neglected by the last 10 years of Liberal government. And it was their struggles that motivated me to jump into politics.”
“The community is incredibly vibrant, from Rodney to Stratfordville, from Port Glasgow to Port Burwell, Eagle, Iona Station, or my beloved Lawton’s Corners (now nothing more than an intersection located west of Spara).
“My riding is made up of incredible communities filled with incredible people, and I get to represent them.
“Everyone, regardless of how they voted, the farmers, the artists, the entrepreneurs, people who have just made Canada their home for the first time and people who helped settle this country and settled the community generations ago.
“But it’s people in these rural and smaller communities in particular who have felt most neglected by the last 10 years of Liberal government. And it was their struggles that motivated me to jump into politics.
“As a journalist and broadcaster, I could not spend an election with the stakes so high on the sidelines. I had to have a hand in the solutions.
“Like most in this chamber, I spent the campaign knocking on doors. I spoke to thousands upon thousands upon thousands of people in my riding, and I want to share, Mr. Speaker, a few of the stories that have stood out and that I carry with me today.
“One was a retired teacher from St. Thomas, a woman who said she had voted Liberal every single election in her entire life. And I asked her, why not now? And she said, I just can’t.
“Now, a good politician probably would have taken the vote and walked away, but I asked as a journalist one further question. Why?
“She said, because my sons are 28 and 30 years old, and they live with me, and unless things change, they’re never going to be able to move out.
“That is one conversation I had that is so similar to countless more, people whose families could not develop and thrive the way that most Canadians dream, the way people in my riding dream, because of Liberal government policy that has made homeownership just a fantasy rather than a dream and an aspiration.
“But these struggles and these stories did not disappear on election day. These people are still out there. Their struggles are still out there. And they deserve action. And that is exactly what it is incumbent on us in this House to provide, to deliver.”
“There was a business owner in Aylmer who runs in the machining sector and felt like the combination of taxes and regulations and red tape, and yes, the carbon tax, had made it so unaffordable to do business in his own community that it would be better off to just shut down and retire or to move to another country, to move to the United States.
“And that was before the threat of tariffs.
“You see, we were already on a weakened economic footing because of the last 10 years of Liberal government.
“I met one couple in London who did everything right. They worked, they saved what they could, they supported their children, but now their landlord is selling the house they rent.
“They were convinced, with the prices of rent and the unaffordability of a home, that they were going to be homeless. This is not what should happen in a country that has as much to offer as Canada.
“These are the stories that stay with me. These are the stories that are etched on my heart as I enter this chamber. These are the stories that motivate the work I seek to do here as a Member of Parliament.
“But these struggles and these stories did not disappear on election day. These people are still out there. Their struggles are still out there. And they deserve action. And that is exactly what it is incumbent on us in this House to provide, to deliver.
“I got into politics to serve these people. I got into politics to serve these constituents. I also got into politics to make Canada a freer place.
“Unlike Liberals, who wrap themselves in the flag when it is politically convenient, I am not a fair-weather patriot. And we will always, on this side of the aisle, Mr. Speaker, stand up for Canada and be proud in our Canadian identity and proud of our country.”
“In the last decade, the Liberals have put freedom in their crosshairs in more ways than I could list in the time I have here. The Liberals have tried to, in their paternalistic fashion, censor what Canadians see and say online.
“The Liberals have told parents how to raise their children.
“They profess, on one hand, to support press freedom while banning independent journalists from even reporting on them, something that is a fundamental charter right in this country.
“These Liberals have threatened the charitable status of houses of worship and at the same time turned a blind eye to rampant vandalism and arson of churches.
“Some actually turning a blind eye was not enough. They actively or tacitly condoned such actions.
“This is a party that has imposed elite policies on communities that never asked for them, and I can tell you, having gone through this election, do not want them.
“Mr. Speaker, I am here to tell the Liberals that their assaults on freedom will not stand. I am putting them on notice, Mr. Speaker, right now.
“I am here because I love my country. Unlike the Prime Minister, who picks whichever passport is most convenient in a given moment, I actually love Canada.
“Canada is the only country I’ve ever called home. It’s the only country that I have any desire to be a citizen of, and it is an honour and a privilege to be a Canadian. I have always been proud of my country. I have always stood for my country.
“Unlike Liberals, who wrap themselves in the flag when it is politically convenient, I am not a fair-weather patriot. And we will always, on this side of the aisle, Mr. Speaker, stand up for Canada and be proud in our Canadian identity and proud of our country.
“This means being proud in the institutions of this place, being proud of our history, being proud of the people who built this country, and standing for those who seek to celebrate and preserve Canada.
“Mr. Speaker, that is what brings me here. This is what I will do as a Member of Parliament. So I do not take the fair-weather patriots, those with their newfound celebration of Canadianism, with their flags still creased and wrapped in plastic practically, as they seek to lecture Canadians on what it means to be an elbows-up Canadian.
“Mr. Speaker, I will always and have always waved the Canadian flag proudly, and I will not stand by while those who were denigrating people who did that years ago claim to have the moral high ground on what it means to be a Canadian now.
“This is a chamber that gives us who sit in it a tremendous honour to be a part of the direction this country is going to take. I do not enter into that lightly.
“I am honoured to be here. I am grateful to my constituents and pledge to serve them and all Canadians. May God bless the work we do in this House and may God bless Canada, Mr. Speaker.”
MP ANDREW LAWTON IS ALSO PUT ON NOTICE
It didn’t take long for David Goodwin to respond to our item last week on MP Andrew Lawton’s swearing-in ceremony.
Goodwin was the Liberal candidate in the spring federal election.
Here are his comments in their entirety.
“This is in response to Conservative M.P. Andrew Lawton’s comments about ‘putting them (Mark Carney’s Government) on notice.’
“Mr. Lawton’s use of divisive and confrontational language as a new M.P. is not the way to start your term in Ottawa. How do you work and deliver for your constituents when you take such a negative and counterproductive approach?
“He referenced his conversations with the people of our riding leading up to the election, but left out the fact he avoided debates and media interviews, closed his campaign office when protesters gathered, and otherwise did everything possible to keep a low profile.”
“As well, that is quite the bravado coming from someone who was just overlooked by Pierre Poilievre for a position in the Conservative shadow cabinet. Mr. Lawton’s poke in Parliament last week, presenting a litany of complaints with no proposed solutions. And as usual, there was a disconnect between what he said and the facts. Here are a few examples below:
“He referenced his conversations with the people of our riding leading up to the election, but left out the fact he avoided debates and media interviews, closed his campaign office when protesters gathered, and otherwise did everything possible to keep a low profile.
“A constituent reported he hung up on him when he asked the then-candidate what riding he lived in. He, of course, didn’t mention his commitment to retain an employee of Karen Vecchio’s constituency office staff and then immediately breaking that promise.
“Mr. Lawton continues to spread misinformation, as he did during the election campaign. He said Liberals have threatened the charitable status of houses of worship. The fact is, several months ago, a British Columbia-based group recommended ending the charitable status of houses of worship to an ALL-PARTY committee.
” If Mr. Lawton truly cared about our constituency over his own advancement, he’d clarify rather than seek to muddy the facts.”
“The previous Liberal government rejected the recommendation. It is simply false, and he knows it.
“The previous government began a crackdown on online child predators – a problem that is growing at an alarming rate. Mr. Lawton positioned this as “paternalistic”, with the government interfering with what we see online, online freedom, and a parent’s right to raise their children as they see fit.
“If Mr. Lawton truly cared about our constituency over his own advancement, he’d clarify rather than seek to muddy the facts.
“I was also extremely disappointed to see that Mr. Lawton’s first question in Question Period was about the oil and gas sector. How does that question represent his constituents in Elgin-St. Thomas-London South?
“It was not about families in our riding, affordability issues, housing, or the impacts of tariffs on jobs and the price of goods and services. The Liberal team and I knocked on over 50,000 doors during the campaign, and the oil and gas industry was not a primary pressing issue of local concerns.
“Mr. Lawton, your constituents are also putting you on notice and will hold you to account for your actions. They don’t want sound bites. You need to represent the constituency in Ottawa, not represent Poilievre’s Ottawa in this constituency.”
THE ECHO CHAMBER
That same Andrew Lawton item generated a variety of comments from readers.
Tan Park wondered how effective Lawton’s voice would be from the back bench.
“All the way from the back bench? Such bravery.”
That prompted this retort from Lawton.
“Tan Park, my voice carries.”
Craig Hill was far more aggressive with his message.
“You’re a joke and have no business being in this riding. You won on false promises. You’re racist, a bigot, and xenophobic. Anti-liberal is not a policy.”
Neil Moore continued with that train of thought.
“Putting the ‘Liberals on notice?’ I’m sure they’re quaking in their boots. The man doesn’t belong anywhere (in) Ottawa. He needs to go back to his previous job as a racist, right-wing ‘journalist.'”
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