ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the issues of fundamental freedoms regarding: religious freedoms, including the reading of scriptures and the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer; disputes over religious curricula; mandatory school enrolment and compulsory attendance; and, mandatory membership in a teachers’ federation. Fundamental freedoms guarantee personal freedoms both in private life as well as in public life, that is, public institutions such as schools. In the Zylberberg case, the Ontario Court of Appeal stated that the religious exercises prescribed under section 50 of the Ontario Education Act contravened the plaintiff’s right to religious freedom. In 1990, the Ontario Court of Appeal held that section 28 of Regulation 262 under the Ontario Education Act was contrary to section 2 of the Charter. Upon examining various sources of data, including two comprehensive studies on religious education in Ontario public schools, it concluded the purpose of the provincial Regulation was to indoctrinate children, and the Elgin County curriculum reflected this intent.
