Liberal Values and Illiberal Cultures: The Question of Sharia Tribunals in Ontario

Ontario has recently been the scene of a resounding clash between supporters and opponents of so-called Shari’a tribunals. The controversy arose from a proposal to use existing legislation as a framework for offering Muslims in Ontario voluntary private arbitration of family law and inheritance disputes according to Islamic principles. As a result of the storm of protest created by this proposal, not just in Ontario but in other provinces and even in other countries, the government of Ontario, in the person of its Premier, Dalton McGuinty, abruptly declared (four) months ago that it would ban any use of arbitration to settle such disputes. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.