Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Bulsajo]

This has been a long-running and highly publicized issue in Canada.
There was a thread on this but it is way too old for me to bother to dig up.
This latest decision really bugs me.

Canada high court allows Sikh daggers in school
Thu Mar 2, 2006

By Randall Palmer

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Multiculturalism and religious freedom trumped safety concerns in a Canadian Supreme Court decision on Thursday that will allow orthodox Sikh students to carry concealed traditional daggers to school.

In its decision, the court noted that Sikh orthodoxy requires the wearing of the daggers, known as kirpans, even though they are banned from airplanes and some courtrooms.

"Religious tolerance is a very important value of Canadian society," Justice Louise Charron wrote in reasons for the decision after a court case that involved 12-year-old Gurbaj Singh Multani who was prevented from carrying his kirpan at a Montreal school.

"If some students consider it unfair that Gurbaj Singh may wear his kirpan to school while they are not allowed to have knives in their possession, it is incumbent on the schools to discharge their obligation to instill in their students this value that is...at the very foundation of our democracy."

Kirpans are already allowed in Ontario after a lower court order. Thursday's ruling now opens the door to the practice, with possible restrictions, across the country.

Canada banned them on airplanes after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States. Some courts ban them as well, although Sikhs attending the Supreme Court hearing were allowed to wear them.

Charron said aircraft were unique environments, but schools had the ability to better control different situations.

Multani's school had originally allowed him to carry his kirpan in a wooden sheath sewn inside a cloth envelope inside his clothing. But the school board overturned this, and the boy's father turned to the courts.

The Quebec government argued unsuccessfully for zero tolerance for weapons in school, and some parents also opposed the idea.

Charron said the boy had no history of violence, and rejected the idea that kirpans are inherently dangerous. She also noted that schools had other objects which could also be used for violence, such as scissors and baseball bats.

Orthodox Sikhs have been been required to carry kirpans since the 1600s. Some say the original purpose was for defense but many insist it is not a weapon.

Sikhs also struggled for the right to wear turbans while in uniform with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. That episode was decided by the federal government in 1990.

Around 250,000 Sikhs live in Canada, and about 10 percent of them are considered orthodox.

In the United States, a federal appeals court allowed kirpans in California, but the U.S. Supreme Court has not decreed a national policy.

[On the other hand]

Goddam muzlims...!!

[Cthulhu]

It's our activist Supreme Court again. Too often Canadian laws and values are not shaped by politicians or--gawd forbid--the people, but are constantly being decreed by the top judges of the country. If the notwithstanding clause ever goes they'll be nothing to stop them, but since its not exactly overused the point seems moot. The judges don't care what the people think; they simply interpret the Charter as liberally as they can and give a middle finger to the wishes of the majority. And it won't change anytime soon.

Of course, no one ever considers that possibility that the Great Canadian Sacred Cow, i.e,. multiculturalism, could ever go too far or be interpreted too broadly. No, that would be heresy.

[khyber]

Assuming Sihk violence in schools doesn't skyrocket with stabbing incidents abounding, would it make that big of a differencE?

[Bulsajo]

[marlow]

Shouldn't everyone now be allowed to carry a knife to school? I mean, why should belief in an organized religion permit things that personal secular beliefs do not. If a person's secular belief is that they should carry a knife, why not let them? Why persecute the non-religious?

[chiaa]

[OiGirl]

At the time of Columbine, my sister was working at a high school in rural Colorado. She tells me that of course all her students had knives on them that they used to do chores before coming to school.

[jinglejangle]

[mindmetoo]

[jinglejangle]

Not to deny the validity of arguements against. (I certainly think multi culturalism has gone too far in the US at least.)

From the article, it sounds as though in the one case they mentioned, the dagger was sealed up, so that you could not draw it in a fight. Does anyone know if this is the case, or a stipulation of the new rule?

[khyber]

[Real Reality]

http://www.swissinfo.org/xobix_media/images/sri/2004/sriimg20040902_5187772_0.jpg


http://www.mef.qc.ca/images/kirpan.gif


http://i21.ebayimg.com/02/i/05/00/ca/28_1_bo.JPG

[On the other hand]

[igotthisguitar]

What of the "separation" religion & state? Hmmmm ...

Can teens also now smoke "holy weed" ganja on school grounds on the basis of their religious views & practices? Must be.