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Church & State, Feb 2003

Canadian Court Bars Religion-Based Censorship In Schools

The Canadian Supreme Court has ruled that public school officials may not ban books from the classroom on religious grounds.

In a decision handed down in late December, Canada's high court concluded that a British Columbia school board could not legally ban the book One Dad, Two Dads, Brown Dad, Blue Dads from use in kindergarten classrooms, Reuters reported. Religious groups opposed use of the book because of its gay theme.

"Religion is an integral aspect of people's lives and cannot be left at the [school] boardroom door," the court's chief justice wrote for the 7-2 majority. "What secularism does rule out, however, is any attempt to use the religious views of one part of the community to exclude from consideration the values of other members of the community."