Excerpt:
A university student's contentious request not to meet with female classmates on religious grounds has spilled into the political arena, attracting attention from federal Justice Minister Peter MacKay and sparking wider debate over religious accommodation.
A York University student made the request, and his professor, J. Paul Grayson, turned it down out of concern that it set a sexist precedent. The school's dean of arts quickly disagreed, ordering that the student be accommodated and arguing it would not seriously affect other students' rights.
On Thursday, Mr. MacKay joined a chorus of political and public comment, saying that men and women attending school together was precisely what Canada fought to accomplish when it sent soldiers to Afghanistan.