DRUG SEARCHES BY BOARD AN INVASION OF PRIVACY

The Editor,

Re: "Drug dogs turn up opposition," the Now, Nov. 2.

So the Surrey school board is now contemplating instigating random locker
searches and drug-sniffing dogs, which seems to be another program
introduced by Heather Stilwell. Isn't Heather Stilwell one of the people
who helped spend over $1 million of my tax money, unsuccessfully trying to
ban books?

It was mentioned the RCMP have to get a search warrant to carry out this
kind of action, so the Surrey school board would use a private security
company to circumvent the RCMP.

It should be pointed out the reason the RCMP have to get a search warrant
is because people have an expectation of privacy and we don't need our
police forces acting like Nazis. This is obviously a principle which will
not stand in the way of Stilwell and company.

What's next? Strip searches? This will inevitably lead to another court
case somewhere down the line and there goes another million, which could
have been spent on education. The fact Stilwell and company are still in
office is a reflection on the apathy of Surrey voters - we are lucky to get
20 per cent of the electorate out to vote.

Stewart Calder

Surrey