Today, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment Caitlin Cleveland issued the following statement for Pink Shirt Day:

“Everyone deserves to feel safe and accepted for who they are, even though we know that not everyone has had that experience. Today is Pink Shirt Day, where wearing pink means you’re showing support for safe environments, free from bullying and harassment.

As we mark Pink Shirt Day throughout the territory, I invite you to reflect on this year’s theme, which prompts us and reminds us to ‘Sprinkle Kindness.’ It also reminds us that positive actions ripple outward.

Kindness and compassion help strengthen connection, empathy and understanding. These actions, combined with safe and supportive environments, make it harder for bullying to take root.

Pink Shirt Day’s theme can extend beyond schools and workplaces, into how we welcome newcomers and immigrants into our communities. Bullying can also show up in less overt forms, such as exclusion, stereotyping or discrimination toward newcomers and immigrants who choose to make the Northwest Territories their home.

Alongside the systemic and community work needed to address discrimination, everyday actions – small gestures, using inclusive language, helping someone feel seen – help build connection. They are simple actions, which can help push back against anti-immigrant racism in our communities.

Together, we can continue building pathways that counter these harms and support safer, more inclusive communities. Combatting discrimination and racism starts with the tone we set in our daily interactions, and also the collective actions we take to strengthen welcoming communities.

I hope that everyone – children, youth, families, communities – sees this outpouring of support on Pink Shirt Day and feels reminded that they belong here. Every person in the Northwest Territories is valued for who they are.

I encourage every person in the Northwest Territories to carry today’s theme forward in ways that are meaningful to them. Let’s stand together against bullying today and every day. When we choose kindness, we create stronger, more welcoming communities that reflect the very best of who we are.

You can learn more about Pink Shirt Day here: https://www.pinkshirtday.ca/

For media requests, please contact:
Cabinet Communications
Government of the Northwest Territories
PressSecretary@gov.nt.ca