Ruling (.pdf) - International Center for Law and Religion Studies

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the faith beliefs of the organization. While some residents may come from Christianfamilies and the families chose Christian Horizons because of the Christian homeenvironment, there is no evidence that the persons who receive services from ChristianHorizons, as a whole, come from the community of co-religionists, or that they seekplacement with the organization to further religious education and formation. As I havediscussed above, the mission of Christian Horizons is to provide residential care andsupport to persons who have developmental disabilities.[192] There was evidence from both Christian Horizons and the Commission aboutthe practices of other organizations which either identify as Evangelical Christian, or arerun by Churches or religious orders. Policies in relation to lifestyle statements, hiringand employment requirements vary widely. For example, Rev. Dr. Stiller testified thatsome organizations that identify as Evangelical Christian do not have a prohibitionagainst homosexual relationships in their lifestyle statements.2008 HRTO 22 (CanLII)[193] Mr. John Cobrough, the Territorial Director of Employee Relations for Canadaand Bermuda for the Salvation Army, testified for the Commission. The Salvation Armywas described as an Evangelical Christian organization and is a branch of the SalvationArmy Church. It has a Doctrinal Statement almost identical to that of ChristianHorizons, and its mission is similar. Its value statement requires all employees tosupport Christian values of respect, honesty, integrity, fairness, mercy and compassion.The mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, supply basic human needs, providepersonal counselling and undertake the spiritual and moral regeneration and physicalrehabilitations of all persons in need who come within the sphere of influence regardlessof race, colour, creed, sex, age or sexual orientation.[194] Mr. Cobrough testified that the Salvation Army is engaged in various socialservice activities, including hospitals and caring for individuals with developmentaldisabilities. In carrying out its work, it has approximately 1200 officers, 10,000employees and 68,000 volunteers. Officers, who are ordained pastors of the church,and “soldiers”, are required to adopt the articles of faith of the organization and must58
agree to live by the values and lifestyle statement. For example, they are not permittedto engage in homosexual relationships.[195] The Salvation Army does not require all employees to sign a lifestyle andmorality statement. Individuals who are not officers or soldiers are not required to sign alifestyle statement. Adherence to lifestyle and morality standards is considered to be aqualification for some positions, such as youth pastor, but other positions, such asregistered nurse, do not have such a requirement.[196] In his testimony, Rev. Dr. Hawkes spoke about his experiences in the 1990’sand working to ensure that the gay and lesbian community in Toronto had properaccess to health care. He explained that several hospitals in downtown Toronto thathad traditionally served the gay and lesbian community were slated for closure. As Dr.Hawkes put it, “in the height of the AIDS crisis, the only hospital that was going to be leftwas St. Mike’s Hospital, a Roman Catholic hospital, a Roman Catholic institution with aterrible reputation [within the gay and lesbian community].”2008 HRTO 22 (CanLII)[197] Rev. Dr. Hawkes testified:So I went and met with them and I said what are you going todo because we don't feel we're going to be safe here. And theywere amazing. This is a Catholic institution. They educatedtheir staff on gay and lesbian issues, they started to treat gayand lesbian couples as full couples before the law requiredthem. They put a rainbow flag into the foyer, they put signs upfor Pride Day. They did all kinds of things to make it a safeenvironment, not only for gays and lesbians but for theirpartners as well. So there is a public institution -- sorry, aRoman Catholic institution that's probably 100 percent publicfunded or pretty close, that set aside the official teachings of theRoman Catholic Church, which said you're not to treat gay andlesbian couples as couples. Set that aside to say we have agreater public good here. We are serving the public here andso we have to move past what our priest might teach in theChurch to say. We are a public institution, we are an institutionserving the public, and we need to be able to have publicpolicies that welcome everybody.59
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HUMAN RIGHTS TRIBUNAL OF ONTARIO___
Page 3 and 4:
TABLE OF CONTENTSOVERVIEW .........
Page 5 and 6:
I) OVERVIEW[1] In March 1995, the c
Page 7 and 8:
Code which provides a framework and
Page 9 and 10:
[19] The length of the hearing and
Page 12 and 13: [31] Rev. Reese testified that, aft
Page 14 and 15: objects and purposes essentially re
Page 16 and 17: meet the needs of individuals who w
Page 18 and 19: support services to the residents,
Page 20 and 21: organization. Each retreat involved
Page 22 and 23: Heintz was given a Letter of Employ
Page 24 and 25: Ms. Dorothy Girling, Ms. Heintz’s
Page 26 and 27: with pay pending the investigation
Page 28 and 29: ancestry, place of origin, colour,
Page 30 and 31: such a defence should not be read i
Page 32 and 33: all help it can to its members to a
Page 34 and 35: Analysis and Application of the Fac
Page 36 and 37: [117] On the basis of the evidence
Page 38 and 39: [124] Rev. Dr. Brent Hawkes, the Co
Page 40 and 41: doctrine, unjustifiably entangle th
Page 42 and 43: Christian Horizon urges me to adopt
Page 44 and 45: persons, individuals identified by
Page 46 and 47: the residents, they were not able t
Page 48 and 49: noted above, that families came fro
Page 50 and 51: would otherwise be discriminatory,
Page 52 and 53: confronted about being in a same se
Page 54 and 55: whole. Section 24(2) imposes a duty
Page 56 and 57: 57. The first step in assessing whe
Page 58 and 59: a rational connection between the q
Page 60 and 61: If individuals in Canada were permi
Page 64: And so they have gay and lesbian st
Page 67 and 68: discriminatory views of managers or
Page 69 and 70: Horizons’ management from the poi
Page 71 and 72: • On this and suspicious abuse al
Page 73 and 74: Christian Horizons relied on the di
Page 75 and 76: we're committed to as God's way in
Page 77 and 78: obligations placed on all employers
Page 79 and 80: Inc. (No. 4) (1990), 12 C.H.R.R. D/
Page 81 and 82: late in 1999. She testified that wh
Page 83 and 84: Heintz. None of her concerns about
Page 85 and 86: [268] Ms. Heintz testified about he
Page 87 and 88: take steps to justify why gays and
Page 89 and 90: for over 40 years. It has grown fro
Page 91 and 92: 1. the respondent, Christian Horizo
Page 93 and 94: ADDENDUM TO FINAL DECISION[1] This
Page 95 and 96: Horizons appealed that decision, an
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