The Supreme Court of Canada Thursday decreases to hear the appeal of a school which was found to discriminate against its Muslim students by refusing them access to a prayer space.
Webber Academy, a private school in Calgary, forbidden two Muslim students to publicly pray on campus, claiming that providing prayer space violates the school’s secular policy. The two students, Sarmad Amir and Naman Siddique, enrolled at Webber Academy in 2011 and began praying at school in accordance with their Sunni religious practices. Their prayers included bowing and kneeling, and one or two of their prayers took place each day during school hours. When school president Neil Webber discovered While staff had provided the boys with space to pray, they told the students’ parents that prayers would no longer be permitted since Webber Academy was a nondenominational school. After parents objected, Webber said boys could only pray on campus if they did so discreetly and without bowing or kneeling.
The parents of the two students filed a lawsuit against the school in 2012, claiming that Webber Academy discriminated against their sons. The Alberta Human Rights Commission ruled in favor of the families, fining the school $26,000. The Alberta Court of Appeal denied to overturn that decision last year, finding that the school’s nondenominational policy was not affected by students providing a private space where they could pray. The judges note that the school already allowed displays of religious differences, such as displaying a Christmas tree each year and allowing exceptions to the dress code for students who wear religious head coverings. The court found that giving students access to prayer space constituted a comparable accommodation, stating: “[t]Students never requested that their religion be taught as part of the school curriculum, and Webber Academy was able to continue offering its educational program without religious instruction or influence.
Webber Academy’s policy is just one example of Canadian schools limiting student access to prayer spaces. In 2023, the Quebec Superior Court rejected a request for an injunction against the ban on prayer rooms in schools despite concerns about the constitutionality of the ban. Critics have pointed out that policies barring access to prayer spaces discriminate against Muslim students, whose prayer routines involve physical actions that cannot be done “discreetly.”
Such policies reflect the growing trend of anti-Muslim discrimination that Canadian leaders and rights groups have tried to combat. attacks during the last years. A 2023 reports, for example, found that 31 percent of non-Muslim Canadians “have no interest in being an ally of Muslims.” Discrimination against Muslim Canadians has also been violent. Six men were kill in a Quebec mosque in 2017, and a Muslim family was killed in a “political” attack in 2021.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reaffirmed the country’s commitment to combating Islamophobia. The Prime Minister noted the appointment of the first Special Representative to Combat Islamophobia, Amira Elghawaby, who is leading efforts to combat anti-Muslim discrimination across the country. Canada will also renew its Anti-racist strategywhich includes efforts to combat anti-Muslim bigotry.
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