Mouvement laïque québécois v Saguenay (City)
| Mouvement laïque québécois v Saguenay (City) | |
|---|---|
| Hearing: 14 October 2014 Judgment: 15 April 2015 | |
| Full case name | Mouvement laïque québécois and Alain Simoneau v City of Saguenay and Jean Tremblay |
| Citations | 2015 SCC 16 |
| Docket No. | 35496 |
| Prior history | APPEAL from Mouvement laïque québécois v Saguenay (City), 2013 QCCA 936 |
| Ruling | Appeal allowed. |
| Holding | |
| Prayers of a religious nature recited during or before city council sessions breach the state's duty of neutrality and may constitute discrimination. | |
| Court membership | |
| Chief Justice: Beverley McLachlin Puisne Justices: Rosalie Abella, Marshall Rothstein, Thomas Cromwell, Michael Moldaver, Andromache Karakatsanis, Richard Wagner, Clément Gascon | |
| Reasons given | |
| Majority | Gascon J, joined by McLachlin CJ and LeBel, Rothstein, Cromwell, Moldaver, Karakatsanis and Wagner JJ |
| Concurrence | Abella J |
Mouvement laïque québécois v. Saguenay (City), 2015 SCC 16 is a Canadian administrative law case, dealing with the effect of a prayer held at the beginning of a municipal council session on the state's duty of neutrality in relation to freedom of conscience and freedom of religion. The decision upheld an earlier decision by the Quebec Human Rights Tribunal, ordering the Saguenay council to stop recitation of the prayer and rendering the by-law supporting such prayer inoperable, as well as imposing $30,000 in compensatory and punitive damages. The ruling has implications for all levels of government in Canada, and several cities announced changes to drop the use of prayers before municipal meetings.