CAC card; insurance you can't use.

[Jarnhamar]

Does this seem a like a self-licking ice cream cone?

I wanted to join a couple of local clubs and was told they are $30ish each to join, that's not too bad. I went to the Rec center to pay to join the clubs and was told I need to buy a CAC card first, it's about $100 for the year.  That seemed really expensive to me.  I asked why I need a $100 card just to join two clubs where I have to pay additional fees'.

Insurance.

The $100 goes towards insurance for the various clubs in case anyone gets hurt etc.. I'm told.    That kind of made sense, you need insurance for everything these days.

As I'm getting more and more annoyed because it's almost been an hour of filling paperwork out with a line up forming because only 1 out of 5 staff members seem to be working (at the speed of sadness)  I come to a waiver I need to sign.  I waive my right to basically sue anyone for anything incase something were to happen to I or a family member.

Why do we pay $100 for insurance that we are waiving off being able to use? 

 

[Bruce Monkhouse]

I sign the same kind of forms for every sport myself or my girls play and still probably half of the sports fee still goes to insurance.
Insurance in case someone damages the building, insurance for this, insurance for that,.......the insurance isn't for you.

 

[Shamrock]

I sign the same kind of forms for every sport myself or my girls play and still probably half of the sports fee still goes to insurance.
Insurance in case someone damages the building, insurance for this, insurance for that,.......the insurance isn't for you.

My favorite is paying to register my kids and then volunteering my time to coach/lead... which requires me to take a course at personal expense.

 

[Rocky Mountains]

My favorite is paying to register my kids and then volunteering my time to coach/lead... which requires me to take a course at personal expense.

I signed my son up for kid's golf lessons and offered to help out.  I not only taught my son to golf but a dozen other kids too.  I was an assistant coach for 2 years of baseball.  I don't think there actually was a coach - other than the assistant coach - me.  I am always willing to help out - other than schools where teachers make $ 90,000 (Alberta) and try to download their job onto volunteers.

 

[Bruce Monkhouse]

I signed my son up for kid's golf lessons and offered to help out.  I not only taught my son to golf but a dozen other kids too.  I was an assistant coach for 2 years of baseball.  I don't think there actually was a coach - other than the assistant coach - me.  I am always willing to help out - other than schools where teachers make $ 90,000 (Alberta) and try to download their job onto volunteers.

When they coach that is volunteer work............not part of their job description.

 

[Tibbson]

My favourite was when my 19 year old daughter, in her last month of high school, needed to attend an after hours dinner theater for her drama class.  The event was a half block from where I work so I said I'd take her myself so she could avoid the hassle and delay of taking the bus.  I was told that since it was a school activity and I was driving a student (my own daughter and ONLY my own daughter) I still needed two forms of police checks and my insurance papers on file with the school.  Needless to say the letter from the school went in the trash and I still drove her.

Almost as bad as the Scouts wanting to charge me $200 to volunteer my time.

 

[kratz]

I volunteer with the MFRC and SJA.
Both want me to prove the same thing and I must pay for it myself each time.

Don't get me talking about paying for parking after an hour's drive to volunteer.... :threat:

 

[Shamrock]

Before this gets out of hand, I'd like to complain about how the military handles my volunteering.

For starters, the time off. If it isn't short or buckshee, it's special. Only once or twice have I had to use annual. How ignoble.

Then there's the recording it in my appraisals. Like I need my civic-mindedness used to advantage my career. Ugh.

Incidentally, I've never had to pay for a CRC. The police have always waived the cost or the organization have taken the cost.

 

[Pusser]

I have never heard of a Canadian police service charging for conducting a police record check for volunteer work.  They may have a sign posted talking about a charge, but if you provide a letter from your volunteer organization, they normally do it for free.  Most of the organizations I've done it with will often send applications en masse with one covering letter.  Where it can get silly is if a volunteer organization insists on having one done for them even if you've had it done recently for another one.  I had one club tell me after I showed them the one I'd done earlier that year for minor hockey that I needed another one for junior rugby.  I flatly refused.  All PRCs in Canada are done through an RCMP database, so there is absolutely no difference from sport to sport or activity to activity.  To do it multiple times in quick succession is a waste of police resources.

As for training courses, if an organization wants me to help them and I need courses to do that, then they pay.  I don't pay for the privilege of giving up my free time to help them out, especially when most parents do next to nothing and pay the same fees I do for our kids to play.  The hockey club I'm with at the moment, not only pays my course fees, but is also willing to pay my travel and accommodation costs for the course I'm taking next month! 

 

[Harris]

I have never heard of a Canadian police service charging for conducting a police record check for volunteer work.  They may have a sign posted talking about a charge, but if you provide a letter from your volunteer organization, they normally do it for free.

I signed up to volunteer for my daughters class trips and I had to pay ~$30 with the check being done through the Lower Sackville RCMP.

 

[Pusser]

I signed up to volunteer for my daughters class trips and I had to pay ~$30 with the check being done through the Lower Sackville RCMP.

That's very unfortunate and certainly worth a strongly-worded letter to the Division Commander, Commissioner and provincial solicitor general to ask why they charge for the service, when most other police forces across Canada (at least in my experience and from what I've been led to believe) do it for free, for volunteer work.  It's in everybody's best interest to have these things done, so the organization most interested in not having to investigate problems later, really shouldn't be throwing up roadblocks!

 

[Jarnhamar]

Does the RCMP, local police and RMC still look at an applicants volunteer hours?

 

[OldSolduer]

Toront city council was kicking the idea around that any parent who volunteered for schools trips etc, even casually, needed a criminal record check...not the low end one, but the one that deals with vulnerable persons.....talk about dissuading volunteers....

 

[Pusser]

Toront city council was kicking the idea around that any parent who volunteered for schools trips etc, even casually, needed a criminal record check...not the low end one, but the one that deals with vulnerable persons.....talk about dissuading volunteers....

The difference (as I understand it) between a Criminal Record Check and a "Police Record Check (Vulnerable Sector)" is that the CRC only looks for convictions, whereas the PRC also looks to see if someone has ever been investigated.  In the context of looking after children, this actually makes sense because lack of conviction in a criminal court does not mean somebody didn't do something.  It only means that there was not enough evidence to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.  However, where there is smoke there is fire.  Now before folks dogpile on me about "innocent until proven gulity," just think about whether you would want the creepy person who oggles your daughter funny looking after her, despite a clean criminal record.  A few other points to ponder:

1)  A clean PRC does not mean someone is trustworthy.  It just means they've never aroused any suspicions.

2)  A PRC is not a statement by the police that an organization should or should not employ that person in any capacity.  It is simply a record check.  The organization has to make a judgement call and risk manage it.

Another thing to realize is that the actual check only takes about five minutes in most cases (it's only a database search).  However, because RCMP policy now dictates that they only search parameters they use are the applicant's sex and date of birth, it could take longer as a fingerprint check may be required.  The last time I did one, it took about two weeks because some pervert happens to have the same birthdate as me.  As a result, I had to get fingerprinted and my fingerprints run through the database, before the Ottawa Police could give me the all clear.

 

[Mike5]

Come volunteer for the Coast Guard Auxiliary... where you can pay for your uniform, your PFD, kit, courses, etc.  and then hang out on the docks waiting for a tasking while listening to people complain about overpaid government workers...

By the way, many sincere thanks to all the folks out there who coach hockey, baseball, cubs, etc.  Greatly appreciated from the father of the next Jose Bautista and Colleen Jones...