Law Times

PAGE 10 FOCUS September 14, 2009 • Law timeS Battle over prayers heats up once again Penetanguishene resident goes to rights tribunal to abolish town council practice BY GLENN KAUTH Law Times case to have his town council get rid of a religious practice. Henry Freitag, a senior from T Penetanguishene, Ont., has fi led a complaint with the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario to quash the municipality's reading of a prayer before each council meeting. Th e move comes 10 years after he won his battle against the town at the Court of Appeal to get rid of the Lord's Prayer because it infringed on his freedom of religion. After that ruling, the town re- placed the Catholic version tra- ditionally read out with a non- denominational prayer, a move councillors felt would address the court's concerns. "Council members stand . . . and I repeat this prayer. It's pretty generic. he victor in an old battle over the Lord's Prayer is once again launching a It's not the Lord's Prayer," says Penetanguishene Mayor Anita Dubeau. But Freitag, a Holocaust survivor, says any prayer makes him uncomfortable, especially when fellow observers at coun- cil meetings rise along with the politicians. "I sit there, and everybody looks at me," he tells Law Times. "I don't want to get up because it is not my thing to do." Freitag says he didn't go far enough when he won his 1999 challenge at the Court of Ap- peal in Freitag v. Penetanguish- ene (Town). "I made a mistake when I asked them to abolish the Lord's Prayer. I should have said, 'Abolish the prayer.'" Dubeau defends the town's practices. "I do not command the au- dience to stand. It's at their dis- cretion," she says. "It's one person, and we are Dubeau was prepared to ac- cept Freitag's request to nix the prayer in favour of a "moment of contemplation." But in July, her colleagues on council re- jected her proposed change to the town's procedural bylaw. So, Freitag is pressing ahead with his human rights com- plaint. In response, Dubeau says that while the town will make its case, it will accept the ruling that results. "We will defend our posi- Mayor anita Dubeau says she's willing to rid of prayers, but fel- low council members disagreed. being respectful. We're not say- ing the Lord's Prayer. We're saying a generic prayer asking for guidance as members of council," she says, noting the community north of Barrie is 70 per cent Roman Catholic. tion, but the Human Rights Tribunal, of course, has the fi - nal say." Th e case isn't the only in- stance where prayer, politics, and human rights are colliding in Ontario. Currently, the group Secular Ontario is planning to revive its campaign to get the remain- ing municipal councils that still recite the Lord's Prayer to stop. As part of the eff ort, it sent letters to 28 municipalities asking them to end the prac- tice. Of the 10 that replied, only one — Middlesex County in southwestern Ontario — agreed to rescind the prayer, says Secular Ontario president Sheila Ayala. Th e removal should be au- tomatic given the court ruling in Freitag, she argues. "If the judgment was on his particular municipality, then it should be on all municipalities." It's not the fi rst time the group has taken the issue on. In 2007, it asked Durham Region east of Toronto to end the Lord's Prayer, a request that council rejected in favour of a compro- mise plan that allowed people who didn't want to participate in the practice to opt out. Secular Ontario then sought a local resident to launch a court challenge, but arrange- ments with the plaintiff fell through. Now, Ayala says she's looking for someone else to take up the cause. Th e eff orts follow the On- Powerful tools for the Human Rights Practitioner Canadian Charter of Rights Annotated Inside you'll find a well reasoned analysis of Charter case law as well as a legislative history, the Canadian Bill of Rights, provisions of the in both official languages, Table of Cases and much more. Looseleaf & binders (6) • $499 • Releases invoiced separately (4-5/yr) • P/C 0435030000 Vol. 1/2/3/4/5/6 - ISBN 0-88804-072-5/-074-1/-073-3/-092-X/-203-5/-311-2 caseAlert – Constitutional Law An easy-to-use electronic service that keeps you up-to-date with the latest decisions in constitutional law. Each month subscribers receive an e-mail bulletin summarizing recent court decisions in the constitutional law area. These summaries are arranged in various sub-topics to provide a quick overview of what's happening in the courts today, and are linked to the case digest and the full text decision in PDF format. Visit canadalawbook.ca and click on "Access online products" to sign up for our no-obligation free trial services. Annual subscription price $210 • P/C 0545700999 • $18 for each additional recipient The Charter of Rights in Litigation: Direction from The Supreme Court of Canada This resource offers immediate and insightful reference to Charter issues and arguments and brief yet comprehensive summaries of the Supreme Court of Canada Charter decisions. Looseleaf & binders (2) • $369 • Releases invoiced separately (2/yr) • P/C 0422030000 • Vol. 1/2 - ISBN 0-88804-100-4/-237-X Charter of Rights Newsletter This newsletter allows you to familiarize yourself quickly with the most important recent Charter developments handed down by the various courts from across Canada. Annual subscription with binder • 10 issues/yr • $200 • P/C 0498110999 • ISSN 0838-4843 Constitutional Remedies in Canada Examines a range of remedies available for Charter violations in the criminal process, including chapters on the complex jurisprudence surrounding the exclusion of unconstitutionally obtained evidence and the growing field of damages and cost awards in constitutional cases, among others. Looseleaf & binder • $205 • Releases invoiced separately (1/yr) • P/C 0414030000 • ISBN 0-88804-160-8 The Law of Human Rights in Canada: Practice and Procedure This resource provides access to human rights law and procedure across Canada. Looseleaf & binder • $205 • Releases invoiced separately (1-2/yr) • P/C 0452030000 • ISBN 0-88804-193-4 tario government's debate on the issue last year. In the end, offi cials decided to continue reading prayers in the legisla- ture while including practices from faiths other than Chris- tianity on a rotating basis. But for Ayala, such moves aren't good enough since they don't include people like atheists who not only are members of the public but also might be elected offi cials. "If you were a member of the legislature, what do you do? You're sitting there or you're standing there and you're forced to be listen- ing to these prayers." Instead, Ayala proposes a minute of silence. Like Fre- itag, she argues municipalities like Penetanguishene that have scrapped the Lord's Prayer in fa- vour of a non-denominational one haven't gone far enough. "What we're saying is if you're a councillor, you have to serve all the people, including the people who didn't vote for you. We pay taxes, too," she says. "We're not against religion per se. We just consider it a pri- vate matter. We just say that in the public domain, it shouldn't have anything to do with that," she adds. For Dubeau, the issue is a diffi cult one. While she's some- what resigned to Freitag's argu- ments, she notes the cause is largely his alone. "I'm not hearing a whole lot about that issue. I believe most residents are satisfi ed with the generic prayer we are saying at the present time." Freitag, however, is vowing to press on with his case against the "insulting and discriminat- ing" prayer that leaves him "singled out as a red herring." He has no lawyer but argues the case is worthwhile. "As long as I live, I will stand For a 30-day, no-risk evaluation call: 1.800.565.6967 CA069 Canada Law Book is a Division of The Cartwright Group Ltd. Prices subject to change without notice, to applicable taxes and shipping & handling. www.lawtimesnews.com CA069 (LT 1-2x4).indd 1 9/9/09 3:54:01 PM LT0126 up for human rights. It costs me money, but I can't take it with me anyway." LT John B. Laskin, Edward L. Greenspan, Q.C. and Melanie Dunn Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms Mahmud Jamal and Matthew Taylor Editors: Gregory P. DelBigio and Eric V. Gottardi Kent Roach W inner of the Walter Owen Book Prize, 1997 The Honourable Justice Russel W . Zinn

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