DONNA ALLEN'S POSITION IS A PUZZLING ONE

Apparently, the most important issue for school trustee-elect Donna
Allen is ensuring that all school board candidates undergo criminal
record checks. It's so important to her, in fact, that she's refusing
to be sworn in as a trustee unless the province changes the rules on this.

Allen's action seem to be a rather cynical stunt in an attempt to get
her own way. And it's pricy one. A byelection to replace her will
cost taxpayers about $100,000.

But what's particularly troubling is the fact that no one saw this
coming. Reportedly, Allen's concerns stem from the election of Bill
Bard as a trustee. In 2006, Bard was found guilty of the production
of a controlled substance - marijuana - for the purpose of
trafficking. He received a one year conditional sentence.

Allen has mentioned in the past her position that school board
candidates should undergo a criminal record check. However, she never
said she would refuse office if one of her fellow trustees had a
criminal record.

Allen had a responsibility to inform the public during her election
campaign that she would not be sworn in under this situation.

Surely she had made up her mind about this issue prior to deciding to
run for office again. Allen has told local media that Bard's record
was brought to her attention this fall. Yet she remained quiet on
this issue, until now.

More than 7,400 people put their faith in Allen by voting for her.

Would they have done so knowing that she would abandon her elected
office rather than work with someone with a criminal record? Would
these same people be so keen to vote for her knowing she could cost
an already financially strapped school district $100,000? Donna Allen
broke these people's trust. She campaigned under the guise that she
would work with her fellow trustees for the greater good of our
children's education.

If she had told voters during her campaign that she may step aside if
a candidate with a criminal record was elected, then we would see no
dishonesty in her politics.

But she didn't. Allen essentially misled the public by not revealing
her potential plans.

We're also puzzled about how Allen intends to lobby for this change.
Being elected to a school board would put her in a strong position to
have the province's ear on the criminal record-check issue. Wouldn't
this be the most effective way to push for a legislative change? We'd
certainly like to hear more details about how Allen will be pursuing
her crusade to ensure school board candidates are subject to criminal
record checks. Considering that her decision will likely cost the
school district $100,000, we suspect that many voters would like to
hear those details, too.

But this issue isn't just about the money that will be wasted, it's
also about trust and transparency.

Although two completely different situations, Allen's decision is
reminiscent of the B.C. Liberals not mentioning their plan to
introduce the contentious Harmonized Sales Tax before the last
election. The public was so out-raged by the Liberals' deceit that
the HST was eventually scrapped after it was implemented.

Some people speculate that it wasn't the tax that voters hated, but
the sneaky way that the provincial government brought it in. And just
like the situation in our school district, the Liberals' lack of
transparency ultimately resulted in wasted taxpayers' money. We're
not saying that Donna Allen's quest to implement criminal record
checks is a bad thing. But the way she's pursuing this agenda is.

Allen should apologize for wasting public money, and more
importantly, for breaking the trust voters had placed in her.