Religious freedoms should be protected, and this protection should be applied equally under the law. Toanie Kreft worked for 16 years at Green Acres Foundation in Alberta. While she was on maternity leave in 2021-2022, her employer implemented a mandatory covid vaccination policy. As a Christian, Toanie sincerely believes that if she received the covid vaccines or participated in a coercive mandatory vaccination scheme, she would commit a sin before God.
Accommodation Request to her Employer
As her maternity leave was ending in August 2022, Toanie requested a human rights accommodation based on her deeply held Christian beliefs which require her to have a clear conscience before God and to avoid sin. Toanie detailed these beliefs with many citations to scripture to her employer.
Green Acres Foundation refused the accommodation request and instead placed Toanie on an indefinite unpaid leave in August 2022.
Alberta Human Rights Commission
Following her employer’s decision, Toanie filed a human rights complaint to the Alberta Human Rights Commission. The Commission dismissed her complaint without conducting a hearing, as they have in many similar complaints by Christians who experienced discrimination through covid policies. This dismissal decision failed to even mention the relevant law laid down by the Supreme Court of Canada in Syndicat Northcrest v Amselem, 2004 SCC 47.
Seeking to make right this wrong, Toanie has requested a review of this decision and is asking for a hearing on the merits at the Alberta Human Rights Tribunal.
This article was prepared by the editorial team at Kitchen & Wells LLP
to provide general information on current legal matters.