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Drawing the line... as a volunteer

by G. D. Maxwell

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Page 3 of 3

I'm pretty sure I could pass a background check. On the other hand, so were others who had a similar name or same birthday as someone with a criminal background. They had the fun and further humiliation of having to be finger printed and mug shot so they could volunteer.

I have three objections to this. First I don't trust the RCMP. Sorry guys, but you've earned it. Aside from the egregious acts of assault, there was the recent report of Canada's privacy commissioner outlining the department's failure to purge records that shouldn't haven't been kept on people guilty of nothing.

Second, this is an unnecessary, cover-your-ass decision by the RMOW. If you want to take the position that you can't trust anyone, don't be surprised when everyone takes the same position vis-à-vis you.

Third, the B.C. privacy commissioner last summer outlined a number of widespread abuses of criminal background checks, calling it a disturbing trend for more and more employers to require them simply to reduce the risk of liability.

It's lazy management and moves us back to the bad old days when people were branded their whole lives for what could quite possibly have been a momentary lapse of judgment.

We should be better than that.

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