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12 Hum. Rts. Dig. 1 (2011)

handle is hein.journals/hurtsdg12 and id is 1 raw text is: VOLUME 12 NUMBER 1 uman Rights igest January 2011 COURTS - court reference regarding ewan to refuse to solemnize same-sex mar- Decisions Noted Saskatchewan's Proposed Amendments to Marriage Act U nconstitutional .............. 1 Canadian Pilot Refused Training Under U.S. Security Regulations........ 4 Yellow Cab Discriminates Against General Manager Because of M ental Disability .............. 5 Partner in Law Firm Is in Employment Relationship.................. 6 Campground Failed to Accommodate Disabled Resident ............. 7 Correctional Service Discriminates Against Disabled Inmate ........ 8 African Canadian Discriminated Against by Toronto Police ....... 8 Peel Law Association Discriminates Against Black Lawyers .......... 9 Tribunal Can Appoint a Litigation Guardian for a Complainant . . . . 10 Humber Institute Fails to Accommodate ............... 10 Tribunal Denies Reconsideration . . .. 11 Inside Page ................. 2 Briefly Noted ...............12 Ordering ....................12 same-sex marriage - CANADIAN CHAR- TER OF RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS -s. 1 (reasonable limits) and application of Oakes test - s. 2(a) (freedom of con- science and religion) - s. 15(1) (equality) - s. 32 (application of the Charter) - CONSTITUTIONAL LAW - constitu- tional validity of non-human rights legisla- tion - EQUALITY - equality in the ad- ministration, substance and benefit of the law -right to equality HUMAN RIGHTS - principles used to in- terpret the Charter applied to human rights legislation - human rights legislation sub- ject to another enactment - balancing conflicting rights - EXEMPTIONS - hu- man rights legislation - religion - DIS- CRIMINATION - definition of discrimi- nation - religious beliefs as reasonable cause for discrimination RELIGION AND CREED - conflict be- tween religious beliefs and other freedoms -SEXUAL ORIENTATION -public ser- vices or facilities denied - PUBLIC SER- VICES AND FACILITIES -marriage com- missioner services - government services denied - INTERPRETATION OF STATUTES - legislative intent and case law as aids to interpretation The Court of Appeal for Saskatchewan ruled on a reference by the Lieutenant Governor in Council that two possible amendments to The Marriage Act, 1995, would violate the equality rights of gay men and lesbians, contrary to the Cana- dian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. There were two concurring decisions. In 2004, the Supreme Court of Canada decided that same-sex marriage was legally valid, and enacted legislation redefining marriage to include such unions. This led some marriage commissioners in Saskatch- riage on the grounds that doing so would be contrary to their own religious beliefs. Three marriage commissioners filed human rights complaints alleging that the require- ment that they perform same-sex mar- riages infringed their freedom of religion. The Saskatchewan Human Rights Commis- sion dismissed these complaints on the grounds that the Government of Saskatch- ewan had not discriminated against the marriage commissioners, and alternatively did not have a duty to accommodate their religious beliefs. A human rights complaint was filed against marriage commissioner Orville Nichols in 2005 because he refused to solemnize a wedding between two men on the grounds that it offended his religious beliefs. The Saskatchewan Human Rights Tribunal found (63 C.H.R.R. D/145) that Mr. Nichols violated the Human Rights Code. The Court of Queen's Bench subse- quently upheld this decision (67 C.H.R.R. D/339). In response to these legal proceedings, the Government of Saskatchewan asked the Court of Appeal to consider the constitu- tionality of two possible amendments to the The Marriage Act, 1995. The first amend- ment would allow a marriage commissioner appointed on or before November 5, 2004 (the date when the law on same-sex mar- riage changed), to decline to solemnize a marriage if performing the ceremony would be contrary to his or her religious beliefs. The alternative amendment would allow every commissioner, regardless of when he or she was appointed, to decline to solemnize a marriage if doing so would be contrary to his or her religious beliefs. The Court found that there was no difference between the two possible amendments that would affect con- stitutional validity, and dealt with the amendments together. continued on page 3

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