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Ontario passes law to prohibit religious tribunals for family law cases

CP, via Macleans.ca, Canada
Feb. 14, 2006
www.macleans.ca

ReligionNewsBlog.com • Thursday February 16, 2006

TORONTO (CP) – Ontario has formally passed legislation to prohibit the use of religious tribunals to settle family law disputes such as custody and divorce.

The bill was introduced after Premier Dalton McGuinty promised last year to prohibit the use of religious rules, called Shariah law, to settle Muslim family law cases.

McGuinty surprised many when he announced he would not only ban Shariah, but would also prohibit all religious arbitrations in Ontario.

The Canadian Jewish Congress said Tuesday it was disappointed with the new law.

“It assumes that faith-based approaches to arbitration are innately exploitative,” said Mark Freiman, honorary legal counsel for the Canadian Jewish Congress Ontario Region.

“This view is insulting to all women and to the faiths to which Ontarians adhere. It should concern all people in this province.”

Attorney General Michael Bryant says passage of the legislation means there will be only one law for all Ontarians, regardless of their religion.

Shariah in Canada?

News archive regarding the debate on Shariah in Canada

Research resources on Shariah

Opposition Leader John Tory supports the bill, but says the government should have consulted affected groups before McGuinty made his surprise announcement last fall.

NDP Leader Howard Hampton predicts the ban on all religious tribunals will have to be revisited in a few years.

McGuinty said last September that Ontario residents will always have the right to seek advice from anyone in matters of family law, including religious advice.

“But no longer will religious arbitration be deciding matters of family law,” he said.

There were protests across Canada and Europe last summer to convince Ontario to abandon Shariah after a report recommended the province regulate Muslim tribunals.