PEIEducation and Early Years minister Robin Croucher faced questions Thursday about the timeline on the new ministerial directive aimed at increasing security checks for school staff.Directive was the subject of scrutiny from Liberals, Greens in the Legislature Thursday Ryan McKellop · CBC News · Posted: Nov 06, 2025 2:49 PM EST | Last Updated: 4 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 6 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.P.E.I.’s minister of education and early years was questioned at length about a recent ministerial directive during Thursday’s question period in the Legislature. (Wayne Thibodeau/CBC)Robin Croucher, P.E.I.’s minister of education and early years, faced more questions in the P.E.I. Legislature about how long it took the province to respond to a sexual touching case in Island schools.Late last month, government introduced a ministerial directive aimed at increasing security checks for school staff.But during question period Thursday, Liberal MLA Carolyn Simpson expressed concerns about why Croucher’s directive took so long to come to fruition — six months after a former substitute teacher, Matthew Alan Craswell, pleaded guilty to sexually touching an elementary school student in a classroom.”Why did it take six months to introduce a directive that basically asks for increased checks, requests offenders to self-disclose, and requires the school authorities to modernize their policies?” Simpson asked Croucher.Liberal MLA Carolyn Simpson raised questions during Thursday’s question period about how long it took for the minister of education and early years to issue the ministerial directive aimed at increasing security checks during the hiring process at Island schools. (Legislative Assembly of P.E.I.)”This was a very large document that required very specific language in it. It required a tremendous amount of stakeholder consultation. We did our due diligence to ensure that we had the best possible directive to bring forward,” Croucher replied.”I’m very, very happy that we have taken the time to make sure that we got it right, and make no apologies for it.”Simpson also raised concerns about the requirement for school staff’s criminal record checks to be updated every three years. “A person could have a clean record today and be convicted tomorrow. These checks are only valid up to the day that they are produced, and waiting three years between renewals is far too long,” she said.”Will you update the directive to include measures for continuous screening or, at the very least, shorter renewal intervals to close the gap in protection? If you will not, why not?”WATCH | Education minister’s directive back under scrutiny on day 3 of P.E.I. Legislature’s fall sitting:Education minister’s directive back under scrutiny on day 3 of P.E.I. Legislature’s fall sittingOpposition MLAs had questions Thursday about why it took so long for the province to respond to a sexual touching case in Prince Edward Island schools. Late last month, government introduced new rules that brought in tougher hiring policies and background checks. The Opposition says that’s too little, too late. CBC’s Wayne Thibodeau has more. Croucher responded that he has spent the whole summer bolstering the HR department, and educating and refreshing staff and educators on what to look for when it comes to grooming behaviours, and more.”I’m not sure what this member wants. Do you want me to have [criminal record checks] done every Monday morning when our educators come back to school?” he replied.Questions from the Green PartyThe Liberals weren’t the only ones with questions for the education minister. Green Party MLA Karla Bernard asked about holding public consultations for a sexual misconduct policy in schools.”The amendment I made to the Education Act last May requires every education authority to have a sexual misconduct policy developed through public consultation within one year,” Bernard said.”Here we are in November, and not a single public consultation has even begun. You say you worked all summer, but what did you do?” she asked.Croucher said that it has been one of his department’s highest priorities, but there are a few challenges they’ve been working through, to make sure it is in place as quickly as possible.”It needs to be in line with multiple different legislations: The Education Act, the Child, Youth and Family Services Act, the Human Rights Act. It needs to be in line with the childhood sexual abuse protocol, which is currently being revised. It needs to be developed in parallel with the electronic reporting system,” he said.Green MLA Karla Bernard questioned Robin Croucher about when public consultations would take place for a sexual misconduct policy in Island schools. (Legislative Assembly of P.E.I.)Bernard asked why Islanders should trust that Croucher is taking this seriously.”Public consultation takes none of those things. Additional police record checks are good, but that could and should have been implemented last fall,” she said.”If that’s all the minister has to show for six months of work, we should all be very concerned.”In response, Croucher said that along with the directive and ensuring background checks are done, there has also been comprehensive staff training.”We’ve had the Canadian Centre for Child Protection here on Prince Edward Island to spend two days with all of our stakeholders. We have improved our reporting protocols,” he said, noting that his department has collaborated with Child Protection Services, law enforcement, and the Child and Youth Advocate to “close some of these gaps in our system.”After question periodTalking to reporters after Thursday’s question period, Simpson said she thinks it shouldn’t have taken this long to have the directive put in place.”I know that it could have happened quicker and should have happened quicker. When he talks about a lengthy document you know, I’m not really sure what that means,” she said.”It’s not a lengthy document by nature…. It did not need to take six months to put in place, and could have been done sooner.”‘I intend to bring other issues related to safety forward through this sitting as well,’ Simpson told CBC News after question period Thursday. (Rick Gibbs/CBC)Simpson said that she will continue to seek answers about this, and that there is a lot more work to do.”I intend to bring other issues related to safety forward through this sitting as well.”Speaking to reporters, Croucher said he thinks his department will hit the deadline for public consultations about the sexual misconduct policy.”We’re given a year to get this stood up. One of the requirements in that was that there was public consultation,” he said.”That public consultation is going to… begin sometime before Christmas. I have every confidence that that policy will be stood up prior to the year deadline.”Croucher also said that there is already a sexual misconduct policy in place, within the safe and caring learning environments policy.”It’s not like we don’t have policies in place or haven’t had policies in place. They’re there, [and] our educators are now the best educated as they’ve ever been on that policy.”ABOUT THE AUTHORRyan McKellop is a graduate of the Holland College journalism program and is working as an Associate Producer and Web Writer. Got a story idea? Email ryan.mckellop@cbc.caWith files from Wayne Thibodeau
P.E.I. education minister’s new directive ‘should have happened quicker,’ says Liberal MLA
