Participation in religious prayers were required of soldiers during routine parades at a Canadian Forces base. The soldiers were preceded by an order to remove headdress. The soldier had no religious convictions, had (after having previously raised with his superior his concerns about being made to participate in a prayer service in which he did not believe) refused to remove his headdress (but had evidently continued to stand on parade) and was being charged simply with that refusal.
Held: The order conflicted with paragraph 2(a) of the Charter: ‘The order that was given . . was to show ‘respect’ for what was being done and not mere passive toleration. That is to say, it was designed to constrain him to make a public gesture of approval for a religious ceremony in which he did not believe. .
The fact that the practice of pronouncing prayers at parades and requiring some form of public assent thereto has been hallowed by a tradition of many years in the military as well as other circles cannot justify a breach of the appellant’s Charter rights. We emphasize that what was required of the appellant was active participation in the religious ceremony with which he disagreed. The question of enforced passive participation by mere presence is an entirely different issue and one that we do not reach today.’
Citations:
[2004] 123 CRR (2d) 371
Jurisdiction:
Canada
Cited by:
Approved – Commodore Royal Bahamas Defence Force and Others v Laramore PC 8-May-2017
Soldier’s right not to attend religious service
(The Bahamas) Parties challenged the removal of the right of service members to be excused attendance of the religious elements of force parades.
Held: The Muslim petty officer had been hindered in the exercise of his constitutional right to . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Constitutional, Armed Forces
Updated: 06 May 2022; Ref: scu.582140
