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Quebec Refuses To Accommodate Kirpans At Hearing On Religious Accommodation

By Howard M. Friedman

In Canada yesterday morning, a committee of Quebec's National Assembly held hearings on Bill 94, a proposed law to provide for reasonable accommodation of the religious and cultural practices of minorities.  However, as reported by CBC News, four members of the World Sikh Organization who were scheduled to testify were denied entry to the National Assembly building because they refused to remove their kirpans-- small religious ceremonial daggers worn against the skin under clothing.One member of the group, Balpreet Singh, called the refusal to accommodate Sikh practice "a bit ironic" under the circumstances. Security officials at the National Assembly consider the kirpan a weapon even though Canada's federal Parliament in Ottawa, as well as the federal Supreme Court, permit kirpans to be worn in their buildings.

Full post as published by Religion Clause on January 19, 2011 (boomark / email).