Ontario has formally passed legislation to prohibit the use of religious tribunals to settle family law disputes such as custody and divorce.
The bill was introduced after Premier Dalton McGuinty promised last year to prohibit the use of religious rules, called sharia law, to settle Muslim family law cases.
Mr. McGuinty surprised many when he announced he would not only ban sharia, but would also prohibit all religious arbitrations in Ontario.
The Canadian Jewish Congress said yesterday it was disappointed with the new law.
"It assumes that faith-based approaches to arbitration are innately exploitative," said Mark Freiman, honorary legal counsel for the Canadian Jewish Congress Ontario Region.
"This view is insulting to all women and to the faiths to which Ontarians adhere. It should concern all people in this province."
Attorney-General Michael Bryant says passage of the legislation means there will be only one law for all Ontarians, regardless of their religion.
Conservative Opposition Leader John Tory supports the bill, but says the government should have consulted affected groups before Mr. McGuinty made his surprise announcement last fall.
NDP Leader Howard Hampton predicts the ban on all religious tribunals will have to be revisited in a few years.
Mr. McGuinty said last September that Ontario residents will always have the right to seek advice from anyone in matters of family law, including religious advice.
"But no longer will religious arbitration be deciding matters of family law," he said.
There were protests across Canada and Europe last summer to persuade Ontario to abandon sharia after a report recommended the province regulate Muslim tribunals.
The bill has been popular with people who worry that the use of religious principles would deny vulnerable women and children equal rights under the law.
Mr. Bryant noted before Christmas that once the law passed, existing arbitration agreements would have to be consistent with it to be enforceable. That could mean divorced couples who reached settlements through private arbitration could end up in the courts appealing those rulings.