Alberta v. Hutterian Brethren of Wilson Colony
Encyclopedia
Alberta v. Hutterian Brethren of Wilson Colony is a freedom of religion decision by the Supreme Court of Canada
. The court addressed whether a requirement that all licensed drivers be photographed unconstitutionally violated the Hutterites' right to freedom of religion.
The Alberta Court of Appeal found for the Hutterites.
Chief Justice McLachlin
, writing for the majority, found the law constitutional. She found that the government's need to fight fraud was pressing, and that driving was not a right, so the government was entitled to attach legitimate conditions to it.
Three justices dissented and would have not required the Hutterites to be photographed to be licensed. In three separate opinions, Justices Abella
, LeBel
, and Fish
found that this policy was not minimally impairing, since it would not significantly enable identity theft to allow the exceptions, and the detrimental effect this policy would have on the Hutterites' way of life, since they would have to employ outsiders to perform all their necessary driving.
Supreme Court of Canada
The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court of Canada and is the final court of appeals in the Canadian justice system. The court grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants each year to appeal decisions rendered by provincial, territorial and federal appellate courts, and its decisions...
. The court addressed whether a requirement that all licensed drivers be photographed unconstitutionally violated the Hutterites' right to freedom of religion.
Background
The Hutterites believe that they cannot consent to being photographed. Previously, an exception had been made from the photograph requirement by the Alberta government. However, the government now keeps the photographs in a large database to prevent identity theft, and ended the exemption. Alberta claimed that making a constitutional exception for the Hutterites would undermine its attempts to prevent such fraud.The Alberta Court of Appeal found for the Hutterites.
Opinion of the Court
The government Alberta conceded that this was a violation of the Hutterites' religious freedom (protected under Section 2 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms) but argued that this violation was allowable under Section 1's "reasonable limits" on Charter rights. The Hutterites maintained that this was an unreasonable limit.Chief Justice McLachlin
Beverley McLachlin
Beverley McLachlin, PC is the Chief Justice of Canada, the first woman to hold this position. She also serves as a Deputy of the Governor General of Canada.-Early life:...
, writing for the majority, found the law constitutional. She found that the government's need to fight fraud was pressing, and that driving was not a right, so the government was entitled to attach legitimate conditions to it.
Three justices dissented and would have not required the Hutterites to be photographed to be licensed. In three separate opinions, Justices Abella
Rosalie Abella
Rosalie Silberman Abella, is a Canadian jurist. She was appointed in 2004 to the Supreme Court of Canada, becoming the first Jewish woman to sit on the Canadian Supreme Court bench.- Early life :...
, LeBel
Louis LeBel
Louis LeBel is a puisne justice on the Supreme Court of Canada.LeBel was born in Quebec City. He was the son of lawyer Paul LeBel, Q.C. He went to school at the Collège des Jésuites, graduating with a BA in 1958 from College des Jesuites. He earned his law degree at Université Laval in 1962 and...
, and Fish
Morris Fish
Morris J. Fish, is a judge of the Supreme Court of Canada.Born in Montreal, Quebec, the son of Aaron S. Fish and Zlata Grober, he received a Bachelor of Arts in 1959 and a Bachelor of Law in 1962 from McGill University.He practiced law mostly in Quebec for the law firm Cohen, Leithman, Kaufman,...
found that this policy was not minimally impairing, since it would not significantly enable identity theft to allow the exceptions, and the detrimental effect this policy would have on the Hutterites' way of life, since they would have to employ outsiders to perform all their necessary driving.