No charges, no trial, but presumed guilty

[shockedcanadian]

Last edited Sat May 17, 2014, 01:35 PM - Edit history (1)

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2014/05/17/no_charges_no_trial_but_presumed_guilty.html



Detailed interviews with nearly a dozen Canadians with such records include an Ottawa man who lost a career with Air Canada — even though he was never charged or convicted of any crime — because police years earlier took note of him with a suspected drug dealer in the low income neighbourhood where he grew up.

A B.C. woman’s 911 calls during family arguments were noted on her police record and now prevent her from volunteer and professional work and trigger problems when crossing the U.S. border.

A Caledon man has abandoned his dream of being a firefighter after he was removed from a trainee position because his police check detailed a childhood friendship with a suspected drug dealer, even though he himself had no contact with police.

All three were unaware they had police records until they were required to provide background checks to prospective employers.




I know about this system from personal experience. It is repulsive.

Canada meet The East of yester year...

[Joe Shlabotnik]

1. Something really has to be done about this.

There is a growing pool of unemployable people because of this. IMO police record checks should be only limited to a few yes or no questions by the employer, that are directly related to the job being applied for. No-one should have to be a saint, or have lived their life in a saintly bubble, just to be employable.

[canuckledragger]

2. I still blame Cons and their policies for this kind of thing.

Create a group of unemployable people, desperate to make ends meet but can't work legally because of the type of bullshit mentioned in the original post. Desperate folks do desperate things, and usually wind up getting caught for what they do.

Also, because of this 'guilt by association' bullshit, you can smear an entire neighborhood full of folks just because. That'll teach you for not growing up in the 'right' neighborhoods...

Slowly allow the private prison industry in, create laws or tweak existing ones to create mandatory minimum sentences and/or take away a judge's discretion (Like Harper recently did) and now you have a captive workforce.

Anybody can get themselves into trouble guilty or not over silly shit and I agree with your statement:

"No-one should have to be a saint, or have lived their life in a saintly bubble, just to be employable."

[Saviolo]

3. Another good example of privilege of wealth - Rob Ford

The first man referenced there was unable to get his job because he was just in the same place as a suspected drug dealer?

Rob and Doug Ford -were- suspected drug dealers in high school. This was known before all of the craziness surrounding the video that shows him -actually smoking crack-, but they get to maintain their position as a city councilor and THE MAYOR. They're wealthy white dudes so all of that past is just prelude to where he is now, but he can just say, "It's in the past, and I've moved on. I can't change the past, so why are we talking about it?" Meanwhile regular Canadians are having their lives ruined by loose associations with possible criminals.

Maybe the worst thing is that they don't even realize the disparity. They believe they are entitled to everything they have. Not that they have earned them, that they are entitled. Everyone who touts Doug and Rob as "regular guys" really need to have their heads examined. Any "regular guys" that did the shit that Rob and Doug have got away with would already be seeing the inside of a jail cell, and certainly wouldn't be employable any more.

[shockedcanadian]

4. And the follow up...

Appears that there may be heat applied due to this issue. It is long overdue and well deserved:

http://www.thestar.com/news/investigations/2014/05/18/beyond_mccarthyism_outrage_follows_star_probe_of_police_record_checks_that_reveal_meritless_allegations.html

[shockedcanadian]

5. There is more to be concerned with in this broad issue...

For example, what if an undercover cop posing as your friend is engaged in a crime when you are a teenager. He attempts to entrap you in that crime and you don't take the unethical bait, the police will still create a file on you because you didn't report it. If you do report it, you put a larger cross hair on yourself and obviously the police will not act on your "tip" as the lowlife who tried to rope you into crime (for the sheer benefit of his career) is nothing more than a lying cop.

And then there is CSIS and how they need to respond to accusations forwarded by the unethical, lying undercover police apparatus (as that which occurred in my case if you have followed my long story that I have posted and have shared with many). What about the ability for CSIS, the OPP and RCMP to operate undercover in corporations and have citizens who do not have criminal records or even accusations "managed out" of their jobs? It doesn't matter what you do, believe or say, it matters what the security apparatus report on you.

This is not even an exhaustive list, it is a massive racket where only the most honest and ethical agents dare confront the culture of "criminalizing and increasing budgets". In the end not only are the unfortunate souls losing their God given right to pursue an honest existence, but Canada suffers; punishing otherwise intelligent and driven citizen, dwindling talent while other nations such as China take a greater piece of the global economic pie. I could give you numerous examples of great Canadian companies that are now defunct or in trouble while the best and brightest of other countries eat our lunch.

P.S This is not just a Conservative issue. Do some research on the Liberals and the Sidewinder Affair for more information. This is about massive powers of the security apparatus from the municipal police upwards that do not face consequences for their actions and who often hold self serving politicians hostage ("you dare cut the police budget. Bye Bye political career&quot . It almost brings me to tears when I think about Canada's future with the new globalized economy and how ill-equipped we are to compete in it. We will be lagging far behind for a long time. A large portion of this uphill climb and failure rests solely in the hands of the security apparatus.

[arikara]

6. And yet everyone uses the so-called "privacy laws"

to get around anything they don't want to be bothered with. The medical system is the worst for doing that shit. I called the hospital in another town once to find out if an elderly aunt had been admitted. The only thing I found was out was that she'd used a different first name for 90 years than was on her birth certificate, which nobody in the family even knew. I couldn't give her legal first name, so they wouldn't tell me anything. Nothing. Citing "privacy laws".

Another time, we went to visit a distant relative in the old folk's home and her room had been cleared out. We went to find out what happened and they wouldn't tell us a thing. We'd known that she was sick so wasn't surprised that she'd passed, but they wouldn't confirm it. They wouldn't give us the daughter's contact info, or even be bothered to pass a message along to her. Nothing. "Privacy". It is just nasty.