By Gudrun Schultz

  TORONTO, Canada, December 15, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A small Christmas tree was ordered removed from a downtown Toronto courthouse by a Toronto Judge this week, who said a Christian symbol  was not appropriate for non-Christians entering the building.

  Justice Marion Cohen said non-Christians are “confronted” with the tree, which makes them feel “they are not part of this institution,” in a letter issued to employees explaining her decision. The judge is in charge of administration at the courthouse.

  Staff and lawyers at the site were upset at the move by Justice Cohen, CTV News reported yesterday, saying the decision was disheartening. One man said the tree had been on display in the courthouse over the Christmas season for decades.

  Lawyer Cynthia Mancia, who works in the building at 311 Jarvis Street, said, ““There’s no reason why a Christmas tree can’t be put wherever people want it to be. It’s by no means an offense, I believe, to any religion.”

“I don’t know that it falls upon judges to make decisions of that sort anymore than upon any other member of the public,” attorney John Lamont said.

  Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty also spoke out against the move, saying it was unfair to ask people to abandon their traditions in the interests of multiculturalism.

“I think that’s unfortunate,’’ McGuinty said. “I think it represents a misunderstanding of what we are working so hard to build here in Ontario.

  Meanwhile, just a two minute-drive from the Jarvis Street courthouse, a Nativity scene was erected in front of the Old City Hall on Queen Street.

  Gethsemane Ministries, a lay movement of Toronto-area Catholics, set up the Nativity scene in order to proclaim to the people of the city the true meaning of the Christmas season.

“This Nativity scene brings to focus the tradition and history of the Christmas season, which speak of joy, peace and hope,” said Suresh Dominic, of Gethsemane Ministries.

  He added the scene is also a response to the increasing commercialization of the Christmas season and the troubling trend toward using the generic term “Holiday” to refer to it.

  Dominic hopes the many passers-by during the next several weeks see the display, pause from their rush of shopping and chores and reflect on the true spirit of Christmas.

  Erected at the site on Dec. 10, the scene will stay in place until Jan. 7, 2007.