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Just when you thought Halifax couldn’t embarrass itself any more, news breaks that the municipality asks job applicants if they have had sex with animals.
Now, I don’t imagine that practising bestiality is a necessary qualification for a job with Halifax Regional Municipality. So I’m guessing that this lie detector question is intended to weed applicants out…
Other questions on the test also show that Halifax is going to the dogs. In a direct assault on common decency and personal privacy, Halifax also probes applicants about drug use and suicidal thoughts, which they’re more likely to have after going through the ordeal of a polygraph…
The real issue here is what I would call the right to privacy, if only such a right existed in Canada. Prospective municipal employees were asked not only about their own drug use; they were also expected to divulge any history of domestic abuse, incest and substance abuse counselling.
This not only probes deeply into personal lives; it also attempts to unearth personal medical histories, which I thought were supposed to be private in this country…
Anyway, Canada has consistently failed to fully protect the privacy of its citizens. And neither the Canadian nor the U.S. constitution explicitly recognizes a right to privacy.
Still, it was a judge, the late Louis Brandeis of the U.S. Supreme Court, who came closest to describing the truth of the matter. In a 1929 decision, Brandeis referred to “the right to be left alone.”
Now, there’s a rule that would appear in a proper crank’s Bill of Rights!
Why, exactly would such a right be in the “crank’s bill of rights?”
Isn’t it common decency to leave others to themselves and be left alone? This is probably the worst development of the modern age, the US becoming a nation of busybodies.
I would think there is some section of the Canadian Bill of Rights this might violate, if only in spirit.
2, Yes indeed…
” While Canadians have no express constitutional right to privacy, the courts have interpreted sections 7 and 8 of the Charter as guarding against unreasonable invasions of privacy. Section 7 provides for the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived of these rights except through some form of due process. Section 8 protects against unreasonable search and seizure. The privacy value in these rights, however, has largely been recognized in the criminal law context. It is for this reason, among others, that calls continue to be made for the entrenchment of an explicit and broad right to privacy in the Canadian Constitution. ”
The Right to Privacy
http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/library/PRBpubs/prb0585-e.htm
#1 “the US becoming a nation of busybodies.”
seems canada has us beat…………
Well fuck a duck
Any job requiring a polygraph, blood test, DNA sample, dental records, security clearance and retinal scans, isn’t going to be fun. Walk away, remain silent, stand and leave the room.
This is for any job with the HRM so security clearance is not at issue here.
The problem is that Nova Scotia allows the use of these kinds of interviews. New Brunswick and Ontario expressly outlawed it except where security and public safety are a concern (Say you want to be a cop and you are a few bricks shy of a load).
Needless to say, I am not moving to Nova Scotia anytime soon…
Whats going on is a violation of Canadian privacy laws (PIPEDA) and various human rights laws in place in Canada.
First off the original author is a moron for not checking his facts about privacy and human rights laws in Canada.
Secondly anyone dumb enough to put up during an interview with this should be living in Florida as their rights are being violated and they dont have to put up with it.
The municipality of Halifax is likely facing lawsuits over this now and the stupid busybody who dreamed this one up is likely pleading to his union to save his (or her) job right now.
However it does make me slightly ashamed to be Canadian – I could easily understand this happening in Florida or Indiana.
Brandeis’s hair exemplifies the ‘Right to be left alone.’
Hey !!! I too thought this was illegal in Canada. In fact, Canada is much more restrictive on what questions and delving a prospective employer may ask. For example, one may not ask about a criminal history unless it directly reflects on the job. So a shop lifting charge might be important to a store, it wouldn’t to a truck driver.