March 31, 2011
EFC Receives Intervener Status at Supreme Court of Canada on Parental
Rights/Religious Freedom Case
OTTAWA - The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) will be presenting
arguments to the Supreme Court of Canada on a case to be heard May 18, 2011.
S.L., et al. v. Commission scolaire des Chênes, et al., a case originating
in Quebec, will address the issue of whether parents have the right to
choose the kind of education their children will receive, particularly in
regard to religious instruction.
"This case will cut to the core of what freedom of religion and conscience
and parental authority mean in Canada," states Don Hutchinson, EFC
Vice-President and General Legal Counsel. "Parents simply want the right to
teach morality and religion from their perspective, or decide who will do so
on their behalf. The right to pass on one's religious and cultural heritage
to their children is a fundamental aspect of religious freedom and parental
authority in Canada."
At issue is the Ethics and Religious Culture (ERC) program, a mandatory
course which must be taught to all Quebecois children, from grade 1 to grade
11, whether they attend public or private schools, or are homeschooled. The
course, which states its objective as the instruction of children in a
manner that will promote tolerance and respect, thus equipping them to live
a pluralist society, has proven to be polarizing and controversial. Its
mandate, while at first appearance seeming at home in Canada's multicultural
society, actually sacrifices certain rights and values in order to advance
others.
"Parents in the evangelical Christian community are split on the ERC
program," explains Faye Sonier, EFC Legal Counsel. "Some welcome the
opportunity for children to learn about the contribution of religious
communities to the culture of Quebec. Others are concerned that teaching
young children about a variety of religions as required by the course will
convey to them that all religious beliefs and all moral codes are relative
or of equal merit. However, most agree that parents should have the right to
choose whether or not their children participate in the program.
Unfortunately, all parents who have requested that their children be
exempted from the classroom have been refused."
"Parents are asking that their parental authority be affirmed so they can
exempt their children from course material that is inconsistent with their
sincerely held religious beliefs", explains Hutchinson. "Provinces across
Canada permit classroom exemptions, either in regulation or practice, or
other forms of accommodation. Further, the province of Quebec has yet to
demonstrate why this course is mandatory to ensure a peaceful and tolerant
society. Canada's longstanding tradition of education from a
Judaeo-Christian foundation has bred a vibrant, multicultural nation known
for its acceptance of others and tolerance for differing opinions and
religious beliefs."
"To compel tolerance is to dispense with it. Every religion is, in essence,
exclusive. Compelling tolerance by state-mandated compulsory religious and
moral education can only be accomplished by violating the freedom of
religion and conscience of each religiously devout individual," concludes
Sonier.
***
A related case still in the Quebec court system involves Montreal's Loyola
High School which sought the right to teach the ERC program from a Catholic
perspective. The Ministry of Education denied the school permission to do
so. Justice Gérard Dugré of the Quebec Superior Court stated that the
decision to impose the course on the Catholic school demonstrated "a
totalitarian character essentially equivalent to Galileo's being ordered by
the Inquisition to deny Copernican universe."
For more information about religious freedom in the education setting and
parental rights, please visit
www.theEFC.ca/education.
CCCC to Defend Religious Freedom for
Christian Schools
S. L. and D. J. v. Commission scolaires des Chenes and
Attorney General of Quebec
(The Drummondville Parents' Case)
Should the government be able to dictate what is religious education? In
the Province of Quebec, the government is doing just that. Parents have
taken the Province of Quebec to court, resulting in this important case
about religious freedom. CCCC has been granted intervenor status by the
Supreme Court of Canada to make arguments that the Canadian public benefits
when religious freedom is allowed. This significant case will be argued in
Ottawa on May 18, 2011.
In September, 2008, the Province of Quebec changed the religious education
curriculum, requiring all students from first grade to the end of high
school to take a course each year entitled, Ethics and Religious Culture.
The course surveys all religions, treating Christianity on par with all
other religions. No religion is permitted to be presented as more desirable
than any other. The course is mandatory for all public and private schools.
Even religiously based private schools are not permitted to teach a religion
course contradicting Ethics and Religious Culture.
The Applicants, Lavalee and Jutras, are a married couple with four children.
They live in Drummondville, Quebec. On behalf of their children, they
applied for exemptions from participating in the Ethics and Religious
Culture course. Their requests were denied. Several thousand parents
living in the Province of Quebec also applied for exemptions from the Ethics
and Religious Culture course on behalf of their children. All requests were
denied. The Minister of Education has, apparently, indicated that all such
requests will be denied. School boards have been supplied with a standard
form rejection letter for this purpose.
The outcome of this case will potentially impact religious education
throughout Canada. Right now even private, Christian schools in Quebec are
prevented from teaching religion from a purely Christian perspective. This
is an attack on religious freedom. By intervening at the Supreme Court of
Canada, CCCC intends to argue for a reversal of the requirements imposed on
every school by the Province of Quebec. Without the participation of CCCC
and the other intervenors, the approach taken by the Province of Quebec
could be applied by provincial and territorial governments across the
country.
CCCC is asking members and other interested parties to pray that the judges
of the Supreme Court of Canada make a decision preserving this religious
freedom in Canada.
http://www.cccc.org/legal
