Guibord case

"Brown v. Les Curé et Marguilliers de l'oeuvre et de la Fabrique de la Paroisse de Montréal", better known as the Guibord case, was a famous decision in 1874 by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (J.C.P.C.) in an early Canadian legal dispute over the relationship between church and state. The controversial decision by the British lords led to Quebec finally accepting the creation of a Canadian appeal court, the Supreme Court of Canada as the case demonstrated to them that the J.C.P.C. would not always be sensitive to Quebec's religious culture.

Background

The case centred on a man named Joseph Guibord, a member of the Institut Canadien, a liberal association that strived to limit the Catholic Church's influence over the Quebec government, which was at that time significant. Hence, when Guibord died, the Church opted not to give him a religious burial. The Church’s decision allegedly contradicted its role under the civil law to give burial, but the Church argued it would carry out the burial anyway and that Guibord not being buried in holy ground was a question of religious freedom.

Decision

As Professor Rainer Knopff argues, the J.C.P.C. compromised between two decisions of the lower courts: that the religious freedom argument was frivolous on one hand; or that the courts, not being a Catholic leadership, could not rule on whether a burial should be carried out in accordance with religious procedure on the other. The J.C.P.C., conversely, concluded that while the courts were not Catholic leaders, they could uphold the people's rights and Guibord was entitled to a burial in holy ground. However, the Court did not compel other religious ceremonies to be performed because it was not a Catholic institution. Although burial anywhere could theoretically be justified under the law, the J.C.P.C. ruled burial in holy ground was appropriate in this case and advised the other ceremonies to be performed. The reasoning was that if Guibord was not buried in holy ground, his reputation would be damaged. As Guibord was a good person, he should not be defamed while a terrible person, on the other hand, probably could be denied religious burial.

Following the court ruling, Ignace Bourget, the Bishop of Montreal, went to Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery and deconsecrated the burial plot where Joseph Guibord was to be buried. Twelve hundred soldiers were needed to escort Guibord's body into the cemetery because of the angry mob gathered to oppose the burial.

References

*Rainer Knopff, “Quebec’s ‘Holy War’ as ‘Regime’ Politics: Reflections on the Guibord Case,” "Canadian Journal of Political Science" / "Revue canadienne de science politique", Vol. 12, No. 2. (Jun., 1979).
* [http://www.cbc.ca/news/viewpoint/vp_zolf/20030806.html CBC news - Bishop Ignace Bourget involvement]