The Muslim
barber at the barber shop, whose deeply held religious beliefs forbid him from
touching a non-relative woman, or the woman refused a haircut and made to feel
like a second-class citizen; the teenage victim of cyber-bullying who wants to
commence a civil action against her tormenter anonymously or the media who
jealously and rightly protect the openness of our courts; the gay and lesbian
Saskatchewanians, who have a fundamental right to be free from discrimination, or
the two men accused of sexual assault and fighting for their liberty or the
alleged victim, a Muslim, whose faith requires her to veil her face, even in
court. These are some of the problems of "competing rights" that have vexed our
courts and statutory human rights agencies in the past year. Published in the
August
2013 edition of JustMag.ca.