''R v Jones'', 9862 S.C.R. 284 is an early leading

Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; , ) is the highest court in the judicial system of Canada. It comprises nine justices, whose decisions are the ultimate application of Canadian law, and grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants eac ...

decision on the

freedom of religion Freedom of religion or religious liberty, also known as freedom of religion or belief (FoRB), is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice ...

under section 2(a) of the ''

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms The ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' (), often simply referred to as the ''Charter'' in Canada, is a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada, forming the first part of the '' Constitution Act, 1982''. The ''Char ...

'' and the right to security of person under section 7.

Background

Thomas Jones was a pastor in a fundamentalist church who did not want his three children educated in school and instead was teaching them himself in the basement of the church. The

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

''Schools Act'' requires all parents to send their children to school unless the parent can show that they are going to an accredited

private school A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...

or the government has approved the home-school curriculum. Jones was charged with truancy under the ''Schools Act''. Jones argued that the rule requiring government approval to educate his children involves "his acknowledging that the government, rather than God, has the final authority over the education of his children"para. 19 and so contravenes his right to freedom of religion under section 2(a) and his right to have control over how his children are educated which is protected under section 7.

Reasons of the court

Justice

Gérard La Forest Gérard Vincent La Forest (April 1, 1926 – June 12, 2025) was a Canadian judge who was a puisne justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. He served in that capacity from January 16, 1985 to September 30, 1997. He was later counsel at the law f ...

, for the majority, held that the Act did not violate the Charter. He found that the degree of control that the Act imposed on Jones' children was far from absolute. It was a reasonable requirement and was supported by a compelling interest that it could be justified in a free and democratic society. The certification procedure was in no way manifestly unfair or contravened any principles of fundamental justice and so did not invoke section 7. While the Supreme Court ruled that although Thomas Jones did have to license the school, the provincial government had to provide reasonable accommodation for religious belief. The court ruled that the province must "'delicately and sensitively weigh the competing interests so as to respect as much as possible the religious convictions as guaranteed by the Charter".

References

External links

* Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms case law Supreme Court of Canada cases Canadian freedom of religion case law 1986 in Canadian case law Education case law in Canada Education in Canada Alberta litigation Homeschooling {{Canada-law-stub History of education in Canada Education controversies in Canada