The Canadian province of Ontario is due to rule in the near future on the possibility of using the Islamic Shari`ah in settling family disputes among Canadian Muslims, according to provincial prime minister Dalton McGuinty, provoking protests in a number of Canadian cities over the issue. McGuinty has said the Liberal Government is reviewing a report by former Ontario attorney Marion Boyd recommending to allow Ontario Muslims to establish Shari`ah-based tribunals, Agence France Presse (AFP) reported Thursday, September 8. If applied, Ontario would become the only Western jurisdiction to adopt a form of islamic arbitration. Ontario, the most populous province in Canada, has allowed Catholic and Jewish faith-based tribunals to settle family law matters on a voluntary basis since 1991. The practice drew little attention until Muslim leaders demanded the same rights.Muslim leaders and Canadian officials, however, rebuffed protestor claims, saying that depriving Canadian Muslims from settling their family affairs before Shari`ah-based tribunals will be a sort of discrimination among the Canadian people. Wahida Valiante said if Jews, Catholics and others can practice faith-based arbitration to settle family disputes, so should Muslims. \"You are creating two classes of citizens: one who have certain rights and other who don\"t have certain rights.\" Imam Mubin Shaik in Toronto also said the Islamic Shari`ah is in line with Canadian law. Boyd, who proposed establishing Shari`ah-based tribunals for the Ontario Muslims, warned that if the proposal was rejected, Ontario would face the specter of ending all religious arbitration.