Pubdate: Thu, 14 May 2015
Source: Montreal Gazette (CN QU)
Copyright: 2015 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact:  http://www.montrealgazette.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/274
Author: Jocelyne Richer
Page: A7

SCHOOL OFFICIALS WILL NO LONGER STRIP-SEARCH STUDENTS: MINISTER

School officials in Quebec will no longer be permitted to strip 
search students as the provincial government moved to act on a report 
recommending that only police officers conduct such examinations. The 
report, made public Wednesday, was ordered following the highly 
publicized strip search of a 15-year-old girl at a Quebec City school 
in February.

The incident sparked outrage right across the country after the girl 
told a local paper she felt violated by the search after school 
officials suspected her of selling drugs.

Education Minister Francois Blais said Wednesday the practice will 
soon be banned.

"First, it's not acceptable because it's a kind of humiliation for 
people," Blais said. "And second, only because it's not really efficient."

Fabienne Bouchard, a former prosecutor and retired lawyer hired to 
conduct the probe, wrote a school that has serious grounds to believe 
a student is involved in drug trafficking should call police instead 
of carrying out the search itself.

The Quebec City school board at the centre of the controversy 
defended its actions and said it was only following government policy 
drafted in 2010 after consultation with provincial police and school 
board officials.

The school principal in question said the girl disrobed behind a 
curtain and that there had been no physical contact. No drugs were 
found. Blais said authorities will revise guidelines in the coming 
months to make the roles of all involved more clear. Fallout over the 
incident also led to the resignation of former education minister Yves Bolduc.

Bolduc said in the legislature that a strip search was permitted 
under "strict" guidelines and in a "respectful" manner when student 
security is at issue. But in the days that followed, Quebec Premier 
Philippe Couillard said there was "no question" strip-searches should 
not be allowed in Quebec schools, except under extreme circumstances.
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