Parishioner Marguerite Dallaire complained to the Human Rights Tribunal that the pro-life inscription is “offensive and discriminatory because it denounces, victimizes and excludes women.”

Whether or not that is the case is not the business of the provincial human rights body, said Flaherty in her decision.

“The tribunal has no jurisdiction to scrutinize the content of religious teaching and beliefs, particularly where these are conveyed on the premises of a religious organization,” she wrote.

The inscription, which faces the church and can’t be read from the street, doesn’t fall under the jurisdiction of the Human Rights Tribunal because it is neither a service nor a facility as defined by Ontario’s Human Rights Code.

“It is clear to me that the applicant is attempting to use the (Ontario Human Rights Code) as a vehicle to challenge not only the monument but also the Catholic Church’s belief system and teachings. In my view, this is not an appropriate use of the code,” wrote Flaherty.

That doesn’t mean that the Human Rights Code can’t apply to religious organizations or even the distribution of religious information in other contexts, she said.

“The fact that some of a religious organization’s activities are not services or facilities for the purposes of the code does not, however, mean that other aspects of that organization’s activities will be immune from scrutiny under the code,” said the final decision.

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