Hasidic community has grounds for constitutional challenge to places of worship ban, experts say

Montreal's Hasidic community has a strong case for a legal challenge ofthe ban on new places of religious worship in Outremont, legal experts say.

Residents voted Sunday in favour of sticking with the ban on Bernard Avenue, which effectively blocks the ultra-Orthodox community from establishing a new synagogue in the borough.

New places of worship were already blocked on other commercial and residential streets.

Hasidic community members havesaid they will pursue legal action.

The very notion of the Charter means that democracy is not majority rule.- Julius Grey, constitutional lawyer

"We willfor sureuse the rights of the constitution, we will for sure go to court," said Abraham Ekstein, a leader in the Hasidic community.

Ekstein said some synagogues in the borough are already filled to capacity.

"I go with my kids. I don't have place to sit down. We have to take turns. One stands, one sits," he said.

Turnout was unusually high for a municipal referendum. Only residents and commercial property owners and tenantsliving in close proximity to Bernard Avenue had the right to vote.

More than 60 per cent of eligible voters cast a ballot, with a total of 1,561 residents votingin favour of upholding the controversial bylawand1,202 votingagainst.

• Ban on new places of worship upheld in Montreal's Outremont borough

The result is likely to exacerbate tensions in the affluent, primarily francophone borough, where the fast-growing Hasidic community makes up roughly a quarter of the population.

Will of majority vs. rights of minority

Julius Grey, a Montreal-based human rightslawyer, said the Hasidic community has grounds for a constitutional challenge.

The Supreme Court has been clear that "you have to have an adequate place of worship within the areas that you live," he told Daybreak.

Proximity is even more important in this case, he said, giventhat Hasidic Jewsare not permitted to take a car, taxi or any other form of public transport on the Sabbath.

"It's very possible that the will of the majority is simply unconstitutional," he said, referring to the referendum result.

"The very notion of the Charter means that democracy is not majority rule. Democracy is majority rule and individual rights, and at times, majority rule has to give way. And I think this is possibly a case where majority rule has to give way."

A lawyer with B'nai Brith, a Jewish advocacy group, echoed Grey's comments, adding that the bylaw clearly targets the Hasidic population.

"That, in and of itself, is the very definition of discrimination, of racism," said Steven Slimovitch.

Ban aimed at promoting businesses, mayor says

Outremont Mayor Marie Cinq-Mars, who was in favour of the ban, said the borough made efforts to consult the population throughout the process.

"I am the mayor of all the citizens of Outremont," shetold Radio-Canada.

"To me, it's clear that everyone has the same rights and same obligations."

Cinq-Mars said the ban on new places of worship is aimed at revitalizing the borough's commercial streets. Councilis considering rezoning an area in the northern part of the borough, close to therailroad tracks, to make it open to places of worship, she said.

Cinq-Marssaid some of her constituents have expressed concerns that the Hasidic population doesn't participate in the larger community.

In particular, she pointed to the fact that some Hasidic schools don't follow the provincial curriculum.

Earlier this year, youth protection services raided a school near Outremont out of concern it wasn't complying withthe government's curriculum requirements.

• ANALYSIS |Hasidic school raid puts spotlight on conundrum facing Education Ministry

In the past,Outremont council has taken issue with the Hasidic community's use of charter buses on residential streets and the placement of the eruv, asymbolic enclosure made of string which allows observant Jewsto carry items while within the enclosure on the Sabbath.

In 2006, news that the neighbourhood YMCA had switched to frosted windows to obscure Hasidic students' view of women in exercise wear spurred a debate over the reasonable accommodation of minorities in the provincewhich has never quite subsided.