SUPREME COURT OF CANADA CITATION: Alberta v. Hutterian ...

driver’s licence photo requirement is not to eliminate all identity theft in the province, but rather tomaintain the integrity of driver’s licensing system so as to minimize identity theft associated withthat system. Within that system, any exemptions, including those for religious reasons, pose realrisk to the integrity of the licensing system. Lastly, where the validity of a law of generalapplication is at stake, the doctrine of reasonable accommodation is not an appropriate substitute fora proper s. 1 Oakes analysis. The government is entitled to justify the law, not by showing that ithas accommodated the claimant, but by establishing that the measure is rationally connected to apressing and substantial goal, minimally impairing of the right and proportionate in its effects. [50][52] [59-60] [62-63] [71]Third, the negative impact on the freedom of religion of Colony members who wish toobtain licences does not outweigh the benefits associated with the universal photo requirement. Themost important of these benefits is the enhancement of the security or integrity of the driver’slicensing scheme. It is clear that a photo exemption would have a tangible impact on the integrityof the licensing system because it would undermine the one-to-one and one-to-many photocomparisons used to verify identity. The universal photo requirement will also assist in roadsidesafety and identification and, eventually, harmonize Alberta’s licensing scheme with those in otherjurisdictions. With respect to the deleterious effects, the seriousness of a particular limit must bejudged on a case-by-case basis. While the impugned regulation imposes a cost on those who choosenot to have their photographs taken — the cost of not being able to drive on the highway — that costdoes not rise to the level of depriving the claimants of a meaningful choice as to their religiouspractice, or adversely impacting on other Charter values. To find alternative transport wouldimpose an additional economic cost on the Colony, and would go against their traditional