Preface to the First Edition

• Author: M.H. Ogilvie
• Pages: 19-22

Preface

to the

First

Edition

I

believe this

to be the

only book

of its

kind

in

Canada:

the

first,

compre-

hensive legal textbook

on the law

relating

to

religious institutions.

My

own

awareness

of the

existence

of a

substantial body

of law

relating

to

reli-

gion

and to

religious institutions dates

from

1980 when

I

wondered what

it was I was

supposed

to do,

when

I was

elected

a

trustee

of the

Christian

congregation

to

which

I

then belonged.

A

born

legal pedant,

I

turned

to

the law

reports

to

learn something about

how

religious institutions

in

Canada

are

regulated.

A

compulsive legal scribbler,

I

ended

by

writing

a

guidebook

for the use of

future

trustees within that congregation.

Since then, interactions between

law and

religion

within

Canadian

society have accelerated

for a

variety

of

reasons,

of

which

the

coming into

force

of the

Charter

in

1982,

and the

increasing litigiousness within reli-

gious communities,

are but two of the

more important.

A

wide variety

of

both public

and

private

law

issues have been re-opened

for

debate

by

courts, legislatures

and

religious institutions, themselves,

as a

result.

These issues

go to the

fundamental

purposes

of

human

life

and of

life

in

society,

particularly Canadian

society,

and

show

no

signs

of

abating

in the

foreseeable

future.

When

I

began

in

1989, what

I

believe,

to be the

first

course

in a

Canadian university

law

programme

on the

subject,

1 was

sur-

prised

to

find

it to be

fully

subscribed,

as it

continues

to be.

Perhaps

foolishly,

I

have written this book with

two

potential audi-

ences

in

mind, lawyers

who are

asked

to act in

matters relating

to

religion,

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