The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that Sikh students can carry ceremonial daggers to class and that doing so does not pose an undue danger to others in the schools.
The top court overturned Thursday morning a Quebec Court of Appeals ruling that had barred the kirpan from schools in the province. The Quebec court had said a limit on religious freedom was reasonable, given the safety concerns from carrying the daggers to school.
"Religious tolerance is a very important value of Canadian society," the top court judges wrote in their decision.
"A total prohibition against wearing a kirpan to school undermines the value of this religious symbol and sends students the message that some religious practices do not merit the same protection as others."
If the kirpan is sealed inside clothing the risk of it being used for violent purposes, or being taken away by other students is very low, the judges said. "There are many objects in schools that could be used to commit violent acts and that are much more easily obtained by students, such as scissors, pencils and baseball bats."
Several other provinces have long ago reached compromises with the Sikh community, allowing the carrying of the kirpan - a requirement for baptized followers of the Sikh religion - as long as it is safely sheathed and concealed.
The 2004 ruling from the Quebec appeal court, however, dismissed any possibility of a compromise in that province.
The specific case that went to the Supreme Court involves Gurbaj Singh Multani, now 17. Five years ago, he accidentally dropped his kirpan in the schoolyard of a Montreal elementary school.
Parents of other children pressured the local school board to ban the dagger, because of a zero-tolerance policy concerning weapons.
Gurbaj's parents sued, and the case wound its way through the courts for several years.
In the wake of Thursday's ruling, he told reporters he hoped the Supreme Court decision would help students now in the school system.
"Now that we've won the case, kids like me won't have any problems any more," he said.
He also thanked members of the community who stood by him during the battle.
"I was a little scared but the community supported me a lot, they stood by me shoulder by shoulder," he said. "I'm thankful to them."
When the Supreme Court heard the arguments last April, several organizations - including the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, the Ontario Human Rights Commission, and the World Sikh Organization of Canada - intervened to support the family.
They noted that there have been no examples of any violent acts in schools as a result of wearing of the kirpan.
The youth transferred to a private school soon after the controversy erupted in 2001, and some of the intervenors were concerned that there would be a mass exodus by Sikh students from public schools across the country if the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the ban.
In its intervention, the Quebec government supported the ban, arguing that any potential weapon can cause an unnecessary risk in the schools.
Thursday's ruling was welcomed by Canada's Sikh community.
"We're very pleased that when this court did do this consideration, it came down fully in support of the right of a Sikh student to wear his or her articles of faith while attending school at the same time," Palbinder Shergill, counsel for the Canadian branch of the World Sikh Organization, told reporters during a news conference in Ottawa.
"We hope that in time that those individuals that do not understand the basic tenants of the Sikh community and the Sikh religion and the basic principles that underlie the values of the kirpan will understand and recognize that the kirpan represents what we all hold dear to us as Canadians."
With a file from Canadian Press
Terry Weber