tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3074467537175003896.post5874522614390187499..comments2023-10-28T07:08:30.921-05:00Comments on Q-Bomb: Welcome to Bizarro Canada, Population: 300,000,000Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17756184975622218130noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3074467537175003896.post-42927574878865781242007-02-03T00:08:00.000-05:002007-02-03T00:08:00.000-05:00Well, the problem is that religious freedoms are p...Well, the problem is that religious freedoms are protected in the Charter, both in s.15 on the grounds of discrimination and in s.2 as a fundamental freedom. The government may not require Nichols to violate his beliefs or prevent him from expressing those beliefs without violating his rights. <br /><br />My argument is that s.15 is binding on the government (i.e. it must provide the legally required service) but the law does not grant any citizen the freedom to walk in to a government office, hand pick an employee, and demand that <b>that</b> employee provide the service. All the law requires is that the service be provided by the government. In so far as that service can be provided (as it was - the marriage was performed by a marriage commissioner) in a timely manner then no discrimination by the government occured.<br />Requiring a person to do something against their <b>Charter protected</b> religious freedoms is discrimination on the part of the government on religious grounds; this is prohibited by s.15. We must not forget that in <b>Corbiere</b> religion is identified as constructively immutable by the Supreme Court; it is not simply a choice.<br />The government can hire people of various faiths/abilities to cover all of the requirements of the law but it is not required to be sure that <b>every person</b> hired has to do <b>everything</b>.<br />Now, with respect to Saskatchewan firing commissioners who will not perform same-sex marriages on religious grounds, I would argue that this is constructive discrimination and in violation of s.15 if the person is being forced to violate their religious beliefs in order to keep their job.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com