Anti-Bullying Bylaw

Aggressive name-calling between students. Withholding food from a live-in parent. Harassing a teen online. Sending demeaning emails New Anti-Bullying Bylaw about a co-worker. Preventing a spouse from accessing a joint bank account.

Unfortunately, these are all real instances of bullying that have happened in Chestermere. 

Although young people are often the target of peer to peer bullying, Chestermere City Council recognizes that bullying can affect anyone. 

The City's Anti-bullying bylaw, developed in consultation with Dare to Care Calgary (an anti-bullying organization), adopts a broad definition of bullying as the intentional, repeated and hostile or demeaning behavior by an individual or group where the behaviour results in physical, emotional or mental fear or distress to one or more individuals based on factors including (but not limited to) ability, race, ethnicity, race, gender, sexual orientation or identity. 

Currently, there exists a gap in how to respond to complaints of bullying – schools offer education and the RCMP can lay criminal charges but there is little in between. The new bylaw intends to equip Peace Officers with a variety of response options.  

“The bylaw provides us with the ability to address bullying in a variety of ways including requiring a letter of apology, mandating anti-bullying training or imposing fines,” says Peace Officer Sergeant Trever Bowman. “These provisions will offer the offender an opportunity to learn about the impact their behavior has on others.”

Read the Chestermere Anti-bullying Bylaw

For those who are experiencing bullying, there is support available through a variety of resources.

If you feel in immediate danger, call 911. A Bullying Helpline (1-888-456-2323) also provides support in more than 170 languages. If you would like to talk to someone locally, Chestermere’s Community Resource Centre staff are also available for conversations and can connect residents with more resources.

Local Resources to report bullying: 

Other resources available to anyone being bullied include: