In February, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled against a Catholic family seeking to exempt their children from Quebec's ethics and religious culture school curriculum. The decision has touched off debate about parental rights and the limits of religious freedom. What has been overlooked, writes LexView's Kevin Boonstra, is that the high court judgement was on an entirely different matter than the parents were arguing.

It is true that children will become exposed to realities and belief systems that differ from their own. That is a fact of life. However, who gets to decide the extent and timing of that exposure? Do the dictates of the ministry of education prevail, or should dissenting parents be accommodated?