Ontario Court Rules in Favour of Christian Horizons - May 21, 2010

The Ontario Divisional Court has overturned a 2008 ruling by the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal (OHRT). The OHRT ruling was against Christian Horizons, an evangelical Christian ministry that operates more than 180 residential homes for people with developmental disabilities.

The issue stems back to the firing of a Christian Horizons employee, Connie Heinz, for breaching the morality statement she had signed when she was hired in 1995.  As a condition of employment, she voluntarily signed the Statement of Faith and Lifestyle and Morality Policy, which states, among other things, that she would not engage in “homosexual relationships, extra-marital relationships (adultery), pre-marital sexual relationships (fornication), viewing or reading pornographic material, and lying.”

In her complaint to the OHRT, Heinz claimed that she was let go from Christian Horizons when she publicly admitted to being involved in a lesbian relationship.

The ruling by the OHRT stated that the Christian ministry could not insist on faith requirements for moral behaviour when hiring, nor require that such documents as the Lifestyle and Morality Policy be signed by new employees.  The reason given was that while Christian Horizons is a Christian ministry, it is serving the general public and not restricting its services to Evangelicals.  The OHRT commission also fined Christian Horizons $23,000 to be paid to the complainant.

Christian Horizons dropped its Lifestyle and Morality Policy, and then appealed to the Divisional Court of the Superior Court of Ontario. It argued before the court that the OHRT ruling was in error because the tribunal failed to understand the fundamental Christian mission of the social service agency.

Connie Heinz was represented by Egale Canada, a homosexual rights group.  Also making submissions during the proceedings were a number of religious groups including the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, the Canadian Council of Christian Charities and the Ontario Conference of Catholic Bishops.

In his landmark May 14 ruling, the judge wrote: “"It is clear that Christian Horizons operates its group homes for religious reasons – in order to carry out a Christian mission, imitating the work of Jesus Christ by serving those in need."  He added: “It would not be doing this work of assisting people with disabilities in a Christian home environment but for the religious calling of those involved.”

The court also struck down a Tribunal directive forcing Christian Horizons to review its employment in consultation with the Ontario Human Rights Commission.

According to Don Hutchison, Vice President and General Legal Counsel for the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, the court’s decision is a “significant victory for faith-based charities across Canada.”  He added, “While they must clarify certain governing documents and review certain employment policies, they may largely continue to require employee compliance with both statements of faith and lifestyle and morality policies.  The decision means that Christian charities may continue to serve non co-religionists in society all while maintaining their internal religious ethos and integrity.”

Christian Horizon’s CEO Ed Sider, in a statement published Monday on NoApologies.ca, explained that they had appealed the OHRT ruling because it “would have had the effect of preventing Christian Horizons from continuing to operate as a faith-based organization."  He expressed his appreciation to those who had supported Christian Horizons by saying “Your commitment to this ministry was critical to our appeal and – indeed – will sustain our work into the future.”  He added “We are committed to strengthen the spiritual foundation of the ministry. We serve people with developmental disabilities in Ontario because our members, directors and employees have a Christian calling to do so.”

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