MONTREAL - For three months now at the Quebec commission on the integration of immigrants, it has heard criticism of Jewish orthodoxy -- its dress codes, its segregation of the sexes, its closed communities, even its kosher food.

Yesterday, the Jewish community came to its own defence -- as well as that of other religious minorities looking for reasonable accommodations of their customs and traditions.

"Freedom of religion and conscience are fundamental freedoms," said Steven Slimovitch, legal counsel for the Quebec wing of B'nai Brith Canada'.

"What harm is there in a doctor at a hospital or a teacher at school who wears a religious symbol, whether it be a kippa or a crucifix?" he asked. "It might upset some people and offend others, but those people's tastes and idiosyncrasies shouldn't take precedence, even if they're members of the majority."

Mr. Slimovitch said there should be more accommodations of religious difference in Quebec, not fewer.

For example, a Hasidic woman who does not want to take a government driving test with a male evaluator should be allowed to ask for a female one, he said.

"It's the person who asks for the service" who has rights, not the state, he told reporters after his presentation.

"So the client is always right?" one reporter asked. "In a way, in a way," Mr. Slimovitch replied.

But he balked when asked whether, by the same logic, a client at the same driving-permit agency could refuse to be served by a Muslim woman in a hijab.

"I'll have to think about that," he said after a long pause. "It's a good question."

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