Donna Scott Chief Commissioner and Director

"Armand Greyeyes brings a vital Aboriginal as well as a rural and northern perspective to the commission as a result of his work in the Meadow Lake area." Most recently co-ordinator of Family Law Division Services for Saskatchewan Justice, Scott was responsible for administering the delivery of support services offered through the new Family

Armand Greyeyes Commissioner

Armand Greyeyes has worked as a funding services officer with the federal Department of Indian and Northern Affairs in Meadow Lake since 1980 and was educated at the University of Regina. He has done volunteer work for several organizations including the Saskatchewan and Regina Association of Friendship Centres, The Knights of Columbus, Regina United Way, and the Meadow Lake Minor Hockey League.

The case is moving to the courts instead, at the request of the Saskatoon Board of Education, which argued that the constitutional issue should be heard by the courts, rather than a board of inquiry. No court date has yet been set.

Kenneth Halvorson, the one-person board, had set December 20th as the day for preliminary arguments on procedural and legal issues, including constitutional issues, as well as any applications for intervention. The hearing was to have continued on January 9th and 10th.

Now the courts are going to be asked to decide where the constitutional issue should be determined - in the courts or by a board of inquiry. At issue is the question of whether the recitation of the Lord's Prayer and Bible readings in the schools is protected in Saskatchewan by the constitution.

In a complaint to the Commission in December 1993, nine parents alleged that use of the Lord's Prayer and Bible

The Saskatoon Board of Education said it encourages teachers to open the school day with the recitation of the Lord's Prayer or a Bible reading. They said that this practice is allowed by section 181(2) of The Education Act and constitutionally protected by The Constitution Act, 1867 as amended by The Saskatchewan Act, 1905.

The complaint was investigated by staff at the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission. The Commission concluded that there is a constitutional right to some religious instruction in Saskatchewan's public schools, but that does not include Bible readings or the recitation of the Lord's Prayer.

Donna Scott, chief commissioner/director of the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission, said she anticipates that interested parties will apply for intervenor status so they can add their arguments to those of the Commission and the Saskatoon Board of Education.