Nov 2017 Charity & NFP Law Update
The Court of Appeal for Ontario released its decision in ET v Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board on November 22, 2017 (the “Appellate Decision”). This case was an appeal of a 2016 trial court judgement in the application that upheld the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board’s denial of the appellant’s (“ET”) request for accommodation on religious grounds. While the Court of Appeal’s decision reached the same result as that of the trial court, it held, contrary to the trial court, that ET’s freedom of religion under s. 2(a) of the Charter was not violated and ultimately dismissed the appeal for evidentiary reasons. In its analysis, the Court of Appeal considered issues surrounding parental authority over the education of children, as well as ET’s s. 2(a) freedom of religion under the Charter. This Bulletin focuses on the Appellate Decision only as it concerns freedom of religion in a summary fashion.
For the balance of this Bulletin, please see Church Law Bulletin No. 52.