Discrimination against three Raelians: A Catholic School Board sentenced by a
Human Rights Tribunal

MONTREAL, Dec. 15 /CNW Telbec/ - A Human Rights Tribunal in Ontario just sentenced the Conseil Scolaire Catholique Franco-Nord (CSCFN) for discrimination against Daniel, Michel and Sylvie Chabot, Bishop and Priests of the Raelian Religion, respectively.  

In November 2006, the management of the Conseil Scolaire Catholique Franco-Nord, in Ontario, signed several contracts with the Academy of Pleasurology and Emotional Intelligence (APEI), the plaintiffs' training firm, which included several emotional pedagogy training sessions for its teaching personnel. In January 2007, this same CSCFN management learned that Daniel, Sylvie and Michel Chabot were members of the Raelian Religion and, as a result, terminated the contracts. In addition, evidence showed that the CSCFN management warned several other Ontario school Boards not to do business with the APEI because its founders were Raelians. With this said, it did not require more evidence for Ontario's Human Rights Tribunal to conclude that the CSCFN committed an act of discrimination.

The Tribunal's sentence could not be more clear: "On the basis of the documents submitted by the plaintiffs, the Tribunal concludes that according to article 3 of the Code there was discrimination based on religious beliefs. The defendant did terminate working contracts because of the plaintiffs' religious beliefs." (http://www.canlii.org/fr/on/onhrt/doc/2010/2010hrto2460/2010hrto2460.html)

Here is a statement by Daniel Chabot: "We have been denouncing such discriminatory acts against members of the Raelian Religion for years. We have filed dozens of complaints before the Human Rights Commission and before Tribunals in Quebec, and in the majority of cases they were simply rejected. We went all the way to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, which deals with freedom of religion or belief, in order to denounce Quebec's blatant lack of integrity in legal proceedings concerning religious discrimination. In fact, it took us 17 years of relentless battles and one case before a Human Rights Tribunal in Ontario to finally have our voices heard. This sentence was ironically delivered on Human Rights Day, December 10, 2010 and was, needless to say, a sweet victory."

Raelians celebrated this verdict on December 13, the very same day they celebrated their religious holiday. This day commemorates Maitreya Rael's first physical encounter with the Elohim, the Extraterrestrial creators of all life on Earth.

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