Premier Philippe Couillard has many priorities, but even in a budget crunch he says we have to fight bullying.
But lean times require a different approach. To save money, the government suspended TV ads targeting homophobia and promoting gender equality.
“Is it better to (spend) a $1 million on a TV ad or to put more money in the schools, to have more people with the kids, make sure that everybody is involved,” he asked
Couillard brought a room full of experts together to talk about the issue, and all political parties agree that something must be done.
One third of teenage students say they've been bullied and that can lead to dropping out of school, and worse, suicide.
Ensemble for the respect of diversity is a group that does role playing with teens.
President and director-general Marie-France Legault says teens need balance and need to show compassion.
“The children have to know how the other one feels,” she said.
Bullying doesn’t just affect teens – it can happen in the workplace in the form of insults to threats and elderly victims may find themselves being manipulated, even by a relative.
Police say everyone needs to be alert and speak up.
“Denounce the action or the intimidation or the situation, (that’s the) main, main thing. You have to talk about that,” said Montreal police Chief Marc Parent.
Anti-bullying advocate Jasmin Roy says even young children can spot bullying and take action.
“I think around seven years old they know if they're doing bullying or not,” she said.
Psychologist Egide Royer of Laval University says having students listen to a play or watch some kind of demonstration on bullying won’t necessarily inspire a bully to quit.
He says what's needed is one psychologist per school, which would be costly.
