In Loyola High School v. Québec1 the Supreme Court of Canada was dealing with a high school that was private, English-speaking and Catholic. Its teaching curriculum was administered by the Jesuit order since the school’s founding in the 1840’s. Most of the students at the school came from Catholic families.
In September 2008, as part of a mandatory core curriculum in schools across Québec, the Québec government developed a program on ethics and religion that required a neutral and objective perspective. The program sought to inculcate openness to human rights, diversity and respect for others. The orientation of the program was strictly secular and cultural, and, required teachers to be objective and impartial in all matters religious. The program did permit applications to the Quebec government for exemption and Loyola applied for such an exemption.
Loyola was not granted an exemption. The school challenged the decision of the Québec government. The court found that the Minister of Education’s decision requiring that all aspects of Loyola’s proposed program be taught from a neutral perspective, including the teaching of Catholicism, limited freedom of religion more than was necessary given the statutory objectives of Québec’s program on ethics.
The court found that “freedom of religion” meant that no one can be forced to adhere to, or refrain from, a particular set of religious beliefs. This includes both the individual and collective aspects of religious belief. Religious freedom under the Charter must take into account the socially embedded nature of religious belief and the deep connections between it and its manifestations through institutions and traditions.
The above is the an excerpt of Patrick J Ducharme’s book, Canadian Criminal Procedure, available at Amazon or in bulk through MedicaLegal Publishing along with Criminal Trial Strategies.
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