One of the things that this bill proposes to do is extend what I will call the mandatory reporting requirement. That mandatory reporting requirement also exists for some professionals, such as teachers, physicians and social workers. They have a duty to report if they have a reasonable suspicion of child neglect or a child being in need of protection. The proposal in this bill is to extend that reporting requirement to early childhood educators.

You might think that’s a responsibility or a burden, but actually, it’s meant to protect the early childhood educator, who now doesn’t have to make the call. They have an obligation to do it, and therefore that gives them certain legal protections in view of the fact that now that the law has placed them under the obligation to report, they are now protected. I think that’s a very good development. I would like to ask the member to express her opinion on that.

The member who just spoke I think did a fine presentation on the bill that’s before us today and outlined some of the very important and positive measures that are being taken in this area. I want to congratulate him for his comments.

I do have a question that I’m going to ask him about the obligation of early childhood educators to report if they have a reasonable suspicion of child neglect. I think that’s an important obligation. As I was saying earlier to another member, I think the obligation actually protects the professional, the early childhood educator, from having to decide one way or another whether they should. Because now that the obligation is placed on them, they have a certain protection under the law because now they are obliged to report. I just invite the member to offer his observations on that.