Conscientious objection in Canada: Pragmatic accommodation and principled adjudication

Abstract

The article examines the restriction and accommodation of religious beliefs and practices, with particular attention paid to conscientious objection claims-in which the individual seeks to be exempted from a law that requires him/her to perform an act that he/she regards as immoral. In most contemporary conscientious objection cases, an individual seeks exemption from a law that she/he believes makes her complicit in the immoral acts of others. The article will look at the case of civil marriage commissioners in Canada, who refuse to perform same-sex civil marriages. The civil marriage commissioners want to be excused from performing the duties attached to their civic role, because they believe that same-sex marriage is immoral and should not be recognized by the state. Their request for exemption is a political act, a form of opposition to the law's protection of sexual orientation equality, and not simply a private or personal act of conscience. The commissioners' claim should be rejected not because the accommodation will cause harm that is greater than its value or benefit, but because the claim rests on a judgment about the law and the civil rights of others and so falls outside the scope of protected religious belief/practice.