Pubdate: Thu, 19 Jan 2012
Source: Nanaimo Daily News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2012 Nanaimo Daily News
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1608
Author: Robert Barron

ALLEN PUSHES TRUSTEE CRIME CHECKS

Civil Liberties Group Unaware of Any Such Policy in Canada, U.S.

The Nanaimo-Ladysmith school district's new board of trustees will 
consider advocating for mandatory criminal record checks for trustee 
candidates.

Trustee Donna Allen has made a motion on the issue for next month's 
annual general meeting of the B.C. School Trustees' Association.

If the majority of the local trustees agree with Allen's 
recommendation, the board will ask the association to urge the 
provincial government to amend the Criminal Records Review Act to 
require all school board candidates in B.C. to submit a current 
criminal record check along with their nomination papers.

David Eby, executive director of the B.C. Civil Liberties 
Association, said he is not aware of any policies in any jurisdiction 
in Canada or the U.S. that require election candidates to complete 
criminal record checks.

Education Minister George Abbott has said he is will-

ing to look at the issue but said that he currently has no plans to 
change the rules and didn't comment on what the consequences would be 
if the government did decide to change the legislation.

Allen delayed taking her oath of office for several weeks after she 
was re-elected in November because she didn't think new trustee Bill 
Bard should be allowed to serve because of to his 2006 conviction for 
the cultivation of marijuana. He pleaded guilty to the charge and 
served a one-year conditional sentence.

Allen said when she finally took her oath on Dec. 16 that she would 
continue to campaign for mandatory criminal record checks for 
trustees "both within the board structure and in the wider community."

Bard said he intends to vote against Allen's motion because the issue 
is a provincial matter and the boardroom is "not the place to discuss it."

But he said he would consider requiring trustee candidates to reveal 
their criminal records in some cases, including those who were 
convicted of violence against children and/or adults.

Allen did not immediately return calls for comment.

"There are privacy issues to consider here but, despite that, I 
expect there will be a group in place by the next school board 
election that will have a website dedicated solely to investigating 
and exposing the criminal pasts of all the trustee candidates in the 
district," Bard said.

Many provinces, including B.C., require applicants for positions in 
high-risk professions, like teachers and health care workers, to 
undergo a criminal record check ensure public safety, but the policy 
doesn't extend to those seeking political office, even for school 
trustee positions.

Board chairman Jamie Brennan said he will wait for Tuesday's board 
meeting to discuss his opinions on the issue.

But he said that while it's ultimately up to the government to decide 
if criminal record checks should be mandatory during elections, the 
school board could develop a district policy requiring that 
successful candidates submit to criminal record checks after the election.

"However, I don't know what the consequences would be if we found 
that one of the elected trustees did have a criminal record," Brennan said.

Eby said mandatory criminal checks for those seeking public office 
could give police a tremendous amount of influence in the political system.

He also said he thinks that any government that mandates criminal 
record checks for politicians could be leaving themselves open for a 
constitutional challenge.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom