From an email forwarded from MFNSA:
> Hi everyone,
>
> I wanted to draw your attention to this important petition that I recently
> signed. It is regarding the haircut given to a 7 year old Aboriginal boy by
>
> a teacher aid in Thunder Bay. If you have not heard about this incident yet
>
> I have included some information for you below. I am sorry if you are
> getting to much information from me but I am really upset about this issue
> and I can't just let it go by. What concerns me is that the Crown has
> determined that it is not in the public interest to prosecute the TA even
> though the precedent has been set [cutting hair being an assault]. So
> according to the Thunder Bay Crown Attorney it is not in the public interest
>
> to protect a child who has been assaulted, humiliated, and traumatised by a
> person in a position of authority, in what appears to be a racially
> motivated attack. In other words, enabling racism and protecting racists is
> in the public interest, according to the Crown in Thunder Bay.
>
> "7-Year Old Anishnawbe Boy Haircut fr. Teacher Aide"
>
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/haircutofaboriginalbo y?e
>
> Please consideradding your signature, too. It's free and takes less than a
> minute of your time.
>
> NEWS REPORT
>
http://www.canada.com/news/Family+betrayed+after +teacher+cuts+hair/1620958/s
> tory.html
> A teacher's aide in Thunder Bay, Ont., who last month cut the bangs of a
> First Nations student and was subsequently suspended, will not face charges,
>
> the region's acting Crown attorney said.
>
> "Based on standing Crown policy, it was determined that this act was not
> criminal, per se," David MacKenzie said Friday, adding there was no
> reasonable prospect of conviction and that it was not in the public interest
>
> to proceed in court.
>
> "This lies at the heart of the sense of First Nations that, when we speak of
>
> public interest, they are not included in that public," said Julian
> Falconer, the family's lawyer.
>
> MacKenzie said the incident occurred on April 16 when a teacher's aide, who
> thought the seven-year-old student was having trouble reading because his
> bangs were in his eyes, "apparently removed him from the classroom and
> trimmed the bangs sufficient so he could see what he was reading. . . .
> There was no suggestion of any racial implications. There was nothing
> sinister about it."
>
> "When a child is in any way physically approached by an adult, without
> consent, the suggestion of a failure to fight off the adult as an
> explanation for not prosecuting, is absurd," said Falconer.
>
> "The law is very clear in this area," said Falconer, "The removal of hair,
> without consent, is an assault."
>
> "If a First Nations teacher had taken the same actions with a non-native
> child, there would have been a swift and strong response," Falconer said.
> "The Crown attorney wouldn't be confused about the definition of consent and
>
> those non-native children would have been deemed worthy of protection.
>
> "The message here is that First Nations children are somehow less worthy of
> protection than non-native children."
>
> Falconer says the family feels betrayed by both the police and the Crown
> attorney.
>
> The school board would not say how long the suspension would last.
>
> Falconer said the parents had come to the school in the fall after the same
> teacher's aide ridiculed their older son, who also keeps his hair long. They
>
> explained that the boys wear their hair long in order to participate in
> ceremonial First Nations' dancing.
>
> MacKenzie was not aware that the family already had spoken to the teacher's
> assistant, but confirmed that she has been suspended.
>
> C Copyright (c) Canwest News Service
>
>
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