Canadian Unitarians urge Government to ensure "seperation of church and state"

The Honourable Dalton McGuinty,
Premier of Ontario
Rm 281, Main Legislative Building
Queen’s Park
Toronto ON M7A 1A4

The Honourable Michael Bryant
Attorney General of Ontario


The Honourable Sandra Pupatello,
Minister of Community and Social Services

Dear Premier and Ministers,

It is of critical concern to Canadian Unitarians for Social Justice that Family Law be excluded from the Arbitration Act. We are opposed to the recommendation of the Marion Boyd Report because of the devastating psychological effect that faith-based arbitration could have on women in some religious communities, thereby compromising their rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The psychological damage and ostracism that women in those faith communities may experience could be far more harmful than the physical abuse that the Report considered.

The cultural norm of many religions is hierarchical. We believe that women members of such religions who oppose the opinions of the male heirarchy may be banished from their cultural group, and left without a support network. The human rights of these women will be in jeopardy unless Family Law is excluded from the Arbitration Act. We believe that no religious law should be a part of our justice system.

In considering the Boyd Report, balanced representation between those who support faith-based arbitration and those who are opposed to it is difficult to achieve because those who would be victimized by the arbitration will fear being victimized if they oppose its adoption by the Government of Ontario.

We urge you to find other ways of coping with the case load and the financial burdens of our judicial system. Compromising the human rights of some individuals is not an acceptable method of solving these problems. According to Professor J-F. Gaudreault-DesBiens of te University of Toronto Faculty of Law, “Those who support private abitration as an efficient and relatively cheap mechanism for esolving disputes should consider that abuses of fundamental rights committed in arbitration contexts are likely to undermine the legitimacy of arbitration itself as an alternative dispute mechanism.”1

We are concerned that faith-based laws do not always agree with the laws of Canada and of Ontario. For equality before the law--a primary right of Canadians--it is essential that all decisions be based on the same body of laws. We exhort you to ensure the separation of church and state in our legal system.

We urge you to oppose the section of the Boyd Report that would allow family law to be included in the Arbitration Act. Quebec did this. Let Ontario do so as well! Then may it be said that Ontario recognizes that the Charter of Rights and Freedoms applies equally to all people!

Yours truly

Philip Symons
President

Footnote: 1. Jean-Francois Gaudreault-DesBiens, “Perspectives: The Limits of Private Justice? The Problems of the State Recognition of Arbitral Awards in Family and Personal Status Disputes in Ontario”, World Arbitration & Mediation Report, January 2005, Vol. 16, No. 1, p.26.