Source: Toronto Star
On June 11, 2004 the Toronto Star reported, "The Ontario government will review plans to use Islamic law to settle family disputes before the practice is set to begin in the province. Attorney-General Michael Bryant told reporters yesterday that the Islamic Institute for Civil Justice — the group that plans to use existing arbitration legislation to apply a form of sharia law to settle disputes in the Muslim community — will not begin until later this year. 'We're looking at what the options are, aware of the fact that the (institute) will not be up and running until later on this year, which permits us time to look at it and look at implications that any proposals that are being put forward might have on the entire arbitrations system and how the Arbitration Act works,' Bryant said. Premier Dalton McGuinty announced this week he has asked Bryant and Sandra Pupatello, the minister responsible for women's issues in his cabinet, to examine the issue in depth and report back to him on the best course of action. The practice is permitted under the existing Arbitration Act that allows religious groups to resolve civil family disputes within their faith, providing all affected parties give their consent to the process and the outcomes respect Canadian law and human rights codes. Several legal and women's groups have expressed concern that Muslim women might be coerced by what they label as a male-dominated culture into participating in sharia tribunals without informed consent because of community or religious pressures."