Pubdate: Tue, 06 May 2008 Source: Sun Times, The (Owen Sound, CN ON) Column: Guest columnists Copyright: 2008 Osprey Media Group Inc. Contact: http://www.owensoundsuntimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1544 Author: Larry Miller Note: Larry Miller is MP for Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound. SOCIETY WANTS TO KEEP DRUGS OUT OF SCHOOLS Judicial System Has Undermined Hard Work Of Police Today I would like to share with you my concern about the April 25 Supreme Court ruling regarding the use of drug sniffing dogs. To be honest, I am very disappointed with this ruling. The Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional for school administrators to invite police to do spot checks for drugs in our schools. The court ruled random searches by drug sniffing dogs violated Section 8 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Section 8 reads, "Everyone has the right to be secure against unreasonable search or seizure." While I agree with that statement, I am still astonished by this decision. I believe that society wants to keep drugs out of our schools. It seems to me that keeping our schools free of illegal drugs is a very reasonable reason for search and seizure. Furthermore, it is my understanding these searches are done by the dogs sniffing the students' lockers while they are sitting in their classrooms. I am under the belief that this system allows for the discovery of illegal drugs without the risk of unwarranted public embarrassment. Backpacks were not emptied in front of the student body and teachers did not rifle through personal belongings. The actual searching is done by an "impartial" animal that calls attention only to illegal drugs and ignores old lunch containers, dirty gym clothes and the hundreds of other things that can be found in a high school student's locker. I fear that this decision takes a tool away from our administrators to make our schools a safer place. I fear that this decision will embolden youth who threaten our communities and be an invitation to drug-dealing adults, who take advantage of young drug users, to take up shop in our schools. But most of all, I fear that this decision will have widespread repercussions that will discourage our school administrators from taking action against students that they suspect may have drugs, alcohol or weapons for that matter. The decision appears to outweigh the rights of those breaking the law against the abilities of those whom we ask every day to keep our children safe. I am certainly not calling for a drug-sniffing dog for every school. However, I would have liked to think that individual schools could use this tool if they felt it would help them if and when they suspect illegal activity was taking place. We should be working to keep drugs out of schools, not limiting the abilities of our police to do their job. The precedent this decision seems to set suggests that no person may be stopped or searched without reason or without a warrant. Does this decision mean that RIDE checks or seatbelt blitzes are unconstitutional and without "just cause?" You be the judge. Does this decision not call into question the issues of search, seizure and privacy with these programs in the same way that it does with our schools? For quite some time now there appears to have been a disconnect between society's will to get tougher on crime and our judiciary's direction in their decisions. Our police have to deal with this frustrating dilemma all the time. Far too often police take criminals off of our streets only to see them returned with a pat on the head from our judicial system. All you have to do is look to what happened recently with the large grow-op in Georgian Bluffs and the large crystal meth lab in the Stokes Bay area. Too often the hard work of our police officers is undermined by a judicial system that puts all of the rights in the hands of criminals. Too often the topic of criminal proceedings turns into a search for wrongdoing by police officers instead of the offences of the accused. This ruling in our nation's highest court is no different. The hard work of school administrators and police who worked together to make our schools safer was tarnished by this ruling. As your member of Parliament I feel that it is important to share my thoughts with you on these issues. As always, if this Supreme Court ruling or another topic has caught your attention I hope that you will share your thoughts with me by contacting my offices in either Owen Sound or Ottawa. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom