EDMONTON — Alberta’s government says it’s reviewing the case of a boy who was hit by machine belt as part of school discipline known as the “strap.”
Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides says the review will help determine whether further action is required, and that the safety of students is his top priority.
Alberta RCMP announced this week that a school supervisor in the province’s north has been charged with assault with a weapon after a parent reported on May 20 that their son had bruising and red marks on his thigh from being disciplined at school.
Police then searched a school in mid-June and found a machine belt, similar to a timing belt on a motor or another machine, rather than a pant-worn belt.
Police say investigators have also learned that three Mennonite schools were using the strap to discipline students, and that parents had been made aware of the practice in a collective constitution they signed.
RCMP say today that no other victims have come forward but the school community has been informed what constitutes a Criminal Code violation.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 5, 2026.
