Pubdate: Mon, 02 Jun 2014
Source: Nanaimo Daily News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2014 Nanaimo Daily News
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1608
Author: Robert Barron
Page: A1

NEW CALL FOR TRUSTEE CRIMINAL CHECKS

Mandatory criminal record checks for elected school trustees in
Nanaimo-Ladysmith are on the table again.

The school board has asked staff to develop a policy for trustees to
provide a criminal record check once elected. The policy will likely
be tabled in July in time for the next municipal elections on November.

Trustee Donna Allen introduced the motion at a board meeting this
week.

Allen delayed taking her oath of office for several weeks after she
was re-elected in the last elections in 2011 because she didn't think
new trustee Bill Bard should be allowed to serve because of his 2006
conviction for the cultivation of marijuana.

He pleaded guilty to the charge and served a one-year conditional
sentence.

She said Friday, however, that the motion is not directed at any
particular person and is intended to bring the school board to the
same standards that most other organizations that deal with children
and the public require.

But Bard sees it as a "personal vendetta" against him.

"It's a complete invasion of privacy and it's also a form of fear
mongering," Bard said. "I've been persecuted both personally and
politically and I don't want to see anyone else go through what I have
had to go through."

Many provinces, including B.C., require applicants for positions in
certain professions to undergo criminal record checks to ensure public
safety, but the policy doesn't extend to those seeking political
office, including for school trustee positions.

Allen said she has had to undergo criminal checks in her role as a
teacher and even as a volunteer, and she believes it's important that
school boards have the same criteria.

But Bard said the implementation of the policy would see many
qualified and effective candidates for trustee positions decline to
run.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Matt