The Supreme Court of Canada has made a strong statement in support of religious freedom, even when it relates to fears that religious freedom may place some students at risk in the educational system. In Multani2 the court was required to deal with the competing interests between security of all students and the religious practice of Orthodox Sikhs requiring them to wear a “kirpan”, a religious object that resembles a dagger and is made of metal, at all times. The student in question accidentally dropped his kirpan that he was wearing under his clothing in the school he was attending.
He was not suspended from school. Instead, the school board sent to his parents what could only be described as a reasonable accommodation authorizing their son to wear his kirpan to school provided that he comply with certain conditions to ensure that it was sealed inside his clothing. His parents agreed to this arrangement, but the governing board of the school refused to ratify the agreement on the basis that wearing the kirpan in any fashion posed a risk to other students.
The court found that the Charter applied. The court found any law preventing a legitimate religious custom infringes the right to freedom of religion delineated in the Charter. While the court found that freedom of religion is not absolute in the sense that it may conflict with other constitutional rights, still, applying the limits on rights developed in Oakes, it also found that prohibiting the student from wearing his kirpan infringes freedom of religion.
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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