ONLY IN CANADA! SCHOOL BOARD MUST REHIRE WIFE KILLING TEACHER

What the teacher is, is more important than what he teaches. –Karl Menningervv

Teachers are in a unique position of molding minds. As such they hold a position of great authority & influence. This raises the question: are there individuals in society that should be barred from holding such power; people who cannot or should not be trusted in such positions?Jean-Alix Miguel story begins in 1990. At the time, Miguel pleaded guilty to the brutal murder of his wife. For this crime he spent (just) 7 years in prison.

In 1998, very shortly after his release, the largest School Board in Montreal hired him to teach electronics at a construction trade school.

It apparently took the board 6 YEARS to get around to doing a background check on the man. In 2004, when they (FINALLY) revealed his criminal record, they fired him. The reason? It wasn’t that he murdered his wife, but rather, that he had not disclosed this fact on his original job application.

But this isn’t where the story ends, it’s just beginning. You see, this ruling found it’s way to arbitration. The arbitrator found that the School Board had violated the Quebec Charter of Rights. The reason? The arbitrator did not believe that the convenient omission on the application was THE REAL REASON for the man’s dismissal. Essentially: the board had discriminated against Mr. Miguel for being a murderer. 

The school board appealed the arbitrator’s ruling twice, and each time (surprise) the court’s sided with the murderer. Not only did they not believe he was fired because of the lie, they too found that murdering your wife has nothing to do with your ability to teach.

Is your jaw touching the floor yet?

Turns out that this case isn’t all that unusual after-all! Also in 1990, Sebastien Brousseau killed his own mother. He was sentenced to just 5 years, of which he served 2! Upon his release Brousseau studied to become a lawyer. When he graduated, he fought a decade-long battle to practice law despite his extremely violent past. Brousseau also emerged victorious.

These men took life. And not only did they take life, they murdered family, people who had lived with & raised them. They ended the lives of those who likely trusted & loved them; and they comitted these heinous acts less than a decade before they began to work these occupations! Are these the men whom we should be entrusting with positions of such influence? Do the students/clients not deserve full disclosure? Do they not have a right to make informed decisions?

In Quebec, the answer is a resounding Non…

Teaching is leaving a vestige of one self in the development of another. And surely the student is a bank where you can deposit your most precious treasures. –Eugene P. Bertin