Second Among Equals? Understanding the Short Shrift that Freedom of Religion is Receiving in Canadian Jurisprudence

Abstract

Decisions of the Supreme Court of Canada seem to indicate that freedom of religion is not protected to the same extent as other fundamental human rights, even though the text of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms suggests that all rights are equal, and that there is no “hierarchy of rights.” This article will demonstrate, through analysis of leading and recent Supreme Court decisions, that a judicial tendency of affording reduced protection to freedom of religion exists in Canada, and that this tendency possibly reflects the relatively weak philosophical justifications for inclusion of freedom of religion within human rights instruments.