Off Duty Conduct & Standard of Review

In Fountain v. BC College of Teachers 2013 BCSC 773, the BCSC recently considered the standard of review in an interesting case involving off duty conduct of a teacher.  He was experienced in the use of firearms and had qualified for a Firearm's Acquisition Certificate.  He had some difficulties with his sons who were young men at the time of the events.  The family lived  on a farm and there was an incident as a result of which the teacher fired a rifle above the heads of his sons to warn them away from the farm house.  He was convicted of careless use of a firearm, but the conviction was overturned on appeal, and he was acquitted. 

The College of Teachers inquired into this conduct and found that his conduct amounted to professional misconduct.  The discipline panel was aware that the criminal conviction had been overturned and the reasons why.  He appealed the findings from the College and they were overturned.

The decision contains an excellent summary of the role of a reviewing court especially where  off duty conduct is concerned.  In its decision, the panel did not explain why the conduct in this particular case was relevant to  the teacher's ability to function as an educator or whether it would harm the education system. 

In addition, the panel had not taken into account the reasons why the criminal conviction had been overturned.  The court concluded that the reasons did not demonstrate a line of analysis and pass the test for reasonableness as to how they arrived at their decision when the facts found by the panel are reviewed, together with the conclusion.  (paragraph 46)

http://www.canlii.org/en/bc/bcsc/doc/2013/2013bcsc773/2013bcsc773.html