Freedom of Conscience and Religion

Early Canadian court decisions under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms described religious freedom as a liberty that protects the individual from state coercion in religious matters. This included the right to practice one’s religion without interference and the right not to be forced into religious practices. However, in later judgments the courts viewed religious freedom as a form of equality right that requires the state to remain neutral in religious matters. Underlying these judgments is a complex concept of religion as both a personal commitment to a set of beliefs about truth and right and as a cultural identity.

The challenge for the courts has been to fit this complex concept of religious commitment into a constitutional framework that relies on a distinction between individual choices or commitments that should be protected as a matter of liberty, and individual or shared attributes that should be respected as a matter of equality. The new edition of this book highlights several new and significant judicial decisions, including Loyola v. Quebec, Ktunaxa v. BC, and Trinity Western University v. Law Society of BC. It also explores the constitutionality of Quebec's law banning certain civil servants from wearing religious symbols and addresses the growing issue of conscientious objection, including religious objections to providing services for same-sex marriages.