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Good morning! It’s James Keller in Calgary.

When prospective job applicants are asked for police record checks, what comes back could depend on what province they’re in. There have been cases of documents coming back that include unsubstantiated tips, unproved allegations, and even mental-health incidents. They can cause people to miss out on jobs, lose academic scholarships or even get turned away at international borders.

A court case in Alberta has underscored those concerns – and led to calls for that province to introduce legislation to protect people from being “held ransom” by the discretion of police officers.

The court ruling, released Aug. 1, upheld a privacy complaint filed by an Edmonton man. He lost his job after the city’s police force erroneously labelled him a sex offender and illegally passed along details from a youth conviction to his employer, where had worked for more than a decade.

The judge in the case said the situation underscored the need for laws to protect people from having such information released. Until that happens, he said prospective employees in sectors that require those documents are effectively “held ransom” by a system that relies on police officers’ discretion.

Ontario is the only province in Canada with legislation that restricts the type of information police can release. Under a law that took effect last year, police cannot release records that did not result in convictions in all but the most extreme circumstances.

The B.C. government passed a policy in 2014 that forbids the disclosure of mental-health calls. However, civil-liberties groups in that province say mishandled police record checks are an ongoing problem and a law is needed.

In Alberta, the Justice Minister says the government is reviewing the decision. The Alberta Association of Chiefs of Police issued guidelines in 2018 that request officers don’t release non-conviction information in police checks unless they think it is relevant to the person’s job.

Tony Paisana, a defence lawyer based in Vancouver, said the lack of rules around police checks affects thousands of Canadians every year.

“These are all things that don’t amount to criminal convictions but have the same weight as criminal convictions in this context because they have such an impact on people."

This is the weekly Western Canada newsletter written by B.C. Editor Wendy Cox and Alberta Bureau Chief James Keller. If you’re reading this on the web, or it was forwarded to you from someone else, you can sign up for it and all Globe newsletters here. This is a new project and we’ll be experimenting as we go, so let us know what you think.

Around the west:

Fugitives: The search for two B.C. teens wanted in the deaths of three people ended Wednesday in the dense bush of northern Manitoba. Just as police prepared the leave the area after two weeks of searching for the fugitives, a team of RCMP officers, aided by locals, found the bodies of Bryer Schmegelsky and Kam McLeod. Key to the discovery was the keen eye of river guide Clint Sawchuk, who spotted a blue sleeping bag in the waters of the Nelson River while he was transporting a group of tourists. Mr. Sawchuk’s discovery led police to spot a wrecked rowboat later that day, which then triggered a concentrated police search on an area where the bodies were found.

Farm safety: For centuries, farm owners have been shielded from prosecution for accidents involving their children because of the belief that family farms are unique places where it is normal for kids to be around and operate dangerous machinery. But this week in Owen Sound, Ont., a judge spared a father jail time after his four-year-old died while riding in a piece of farm machinery. Emanuel Bauman had been charged and convicted of criminal negligence. The ruling means children dying in farm incidents can no longer be assumed to be an acceptable part of rural culture and therefore immune to legal consequences.

Hong Kong protests: Canada is advising anyone planning to travel to Hong Kong to exercise a high degree of caution, citing demonstrations and potential violence in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory. Increasing violent incidents stemming from mass demonstrations in Hong Kong have already prompted Australia and the United States to make similar recommendations this week.

E-scooters: Calgary’s pilot project into electric scooters launched last month with San Francisco-based Lime and Santa Monica, Calif.-based Bird rolling out 1,000 and 500 e-scooters, respectively. So far, Calgary is reporting that the experiment has been more successful than expected. Users went on more than 100,000 rides over the pilot’s first two weeks, matching a total that took six months to achieve with e-bikes when they launched last year. “They’ve been wildly popular,” says Andrew Sedor, business development co-ordinator for the City of Calgary.

Pipeline politics: Alberta’s government is setting aside $10-million to help Indigenous groups use the courts to support oil pipelines and other resource projects. Premier Jason Kenney, who announced the litigation fund on Wednesday, has argued that a small group of well-funded First Nations, which have successfully used the courts to derail projects such as the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, has drowned out the voices of Indigenous groups that support such projects. “For too long, pro-development First Nations have been ignored in the debate over resource development,” the United Conservative Premier told a news conference in Edmonton.

Underwater world: In the cold waters off the west coast of Vancouver Island, scientists have found a hidden oasis teeming with corals, sponges, and creatures more typical of warmer waters to the south. The discovery is among the most significant finds from a two-week trip conducted by researchers with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, the Nuu-chah-nulth Nations and other partner organizations. The expedition dropped a camera on a cable down about 2,000 metres into the depths as part of an examination of Explorer Seamount, Canada’s largest underwater volcano.

Inter Pipeline takeover: Inter Pipeline Ltd. said on Friday that it had received an unsolicited takeover proposal from a third party, but stressed that it is not in talks to sell the company. Inter’s announcement confirmed a Globe and Mail report that an unidentified suitor had recently approached the board with a cash offer that could be worth as much as $12.4-billion. The company said that the overture had not been comprehensive enough to disclose to shareholders.

Seven charged: A seventh person has been charged in the death of an Edmonton woman, who disappeared this past spring after travelling to North Battleford, Sask., to attend a funeral. RCMP say Nikita Sandra Cook, a 31-year-old resident of Onion Lake Cree Nation in Saskatchewan, has been charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping. Tiki Brook-Lyn Laverdiere, who was 25, disappeared in April and her remains were found by a police dog outside North Battleford on July 11.

Opinion:

Criminologist Michael Arntfield on the Gillam, Man., manhunt: “Canada is still a country of wide-open spaces that can be exploited by motivated offenders. We are reminded that policing these areas is daunting and dangerous. We are reminded that not all endings, dramatic or otherwise, come with definitive answers. We are reminded that conclusions are not analogous to closure.”

Writer Adrienne Tanner on Vancouver’s closed beaches: "This year, despite a relatively cool summer, Kitsilano, Sunset Beach in Vancouver’s West End, Trout Lake in East Vancouver and Ambleside Beach in West Vancouver have had swimming closings. And if the weather really heats up this month, others may well join that list. Each summer, the closings receive a flurry of media attention questioning why this problem persists in Vancouver, a city that trades on its green reputation. Vancouverites have long chided Victoria for being the last major coastal community in North America discharging untreated sewage into the ocean.”

Activist Jordan Westfall on systemic change to address the opioid crisis: “This is what the ‘safe’ in safe supply refers to; it does not mean that a safe drug is overdose proof. It simply means that a person consuming it knows exactly what they are getting, both in dosage and in potency. This idea is controversial to many people, but it’s just as often taken for granted whenever someone purchases beer or liquor from one of thousands of licensed liquor establishments in British Columbia. They know they are purchasing a safe supply.”

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