Religion of Peace delcares war on the disabled

Gotta love Canada, eh?

A case potentially pitting rights of the disabled against religious beliefs will be heard by the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal after a blind man from the North Shore who uses a guide dog to get around launched a complaint against North Shore Taxi.

Bruce Gilmour filed the complaint after a cab driver from North Shore Taxi refused to let his guide dog into the cab in January of this year. Gilmour, who says it’s not the first time he’s been refused service by a taxicab, is complaining that North Shore taxi discriminated against him on the basis of physical disability.

But the taxi driver, Behzad Saidy, is arguing his Muslim religious beliefs will not allow him to take dogs in his taxi, because Muslims can’t associate with dogs.

According to documents filed with the Human Rights Tribunal, North Shore Taxi said about half of their drivers are “unable to take animals in their taxis due to medical or religious reasons.”

The taxi company asked the human rights tribunal to toss the case against it out. But tribunal member Lindsay Lyster ruled recently it is important that the case be heard, saying the case presents “important and difficult issues” for the tribunal to resolve including both the rights of blind people to equal services and the rights of employees to have their religious beliefs accommodated.