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Canadian Cabbie Loses Challenge To Fines For Displaying Religious Items

By Howard M. Friedman

In Canada yesterday, according to the Toronto Globe and Mail, a Montreal municipal court judge upheld over constitutional attack four tickets given to cab driver Arieh Perecowicz for violating a Bureau du taxi rule that bars drivers from having items or inscriptions in their cab that are not necessary for the cab to be in service. However she reduced the fine and gave him a year to pay it. Perecowicz had his cab decorated with family photos, a Canadian flag and a number of items reflecting his Jewish faith, including a picture of former Lubavitch leader Rabbi Menachem Schneerson and two mezuzahs (small parchment scrolls). A taxi inspector testified that Perecowicz's cab was the messiest she had seen in five years. However apparently other cabs in Montreal often hang rosary beads or a display statue of the Virgin Mary on their dashboards. The judge concluded that the objects were in Perecowicz's cab only for his personal comfort.  Perecowicz has filed a complaint with the Quebec Human Rights Commission and says he is prepared to appeal his case. He says if there is a crucifix over the Speaker's chair in Quebec's National Assembly, he should be able to have mezuzahs on the doors of his cab.

Full post as published by Religion Clause on February 18, 2011 (boomark / email).