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June 12, 2002
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December 20, 2002
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{Link without Title} 4 SCR 710, 2002 SCC 86
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28654
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2002-2003
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McLachlin CJ
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L’Heureux‑Dubé, Iacobucci, Major, Binnie and Arbour JJ
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LeBel J
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Gonthier J
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Bastarache J
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In
1997 , James Chamberlain, a
Primary School Teacher in
Surrey, British Columbia , sought permission from
School District 36 Surrey to use three books in his
Kindergarten and
First Grade classes. The books were ''
Asha's Mums '', ''
Belinda's Bouquet '' and ''
One Dad, Two Dads, Brown Dads, Blue Dads '', and each presented families where both parents were of the same sex. Chamberlain asserted that the books were necessary to reflect the realities of today's families and to teach his pupils about
Diversity and
Tolerance . At the time, the board included chair
Mary Polak , and trustees
Heather Stilwell , Robert Pickering, Gary Tymoschuk, Shawn Wilson, Kim Evoy and Pam Glass. A 4-2 majority voted to deny the requested approval.
A legal battle to overturn the decision to ban the three books went all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada, where the school board's decision at the is always age-appropriate, children cannot learn unless they are exposed to views that differ from those they are taught at home." The legal fees ended up costing Surrey
Taxpayers over $1,200,000.
