Canadian report: Rename 'accommodations'

QUEBEC CITY, May 19 (UPI) -- A report commissioned by the government of Canada's Quebec province has suggested renaming religious "accommodations."

The Bouchard-Taylor report -- commissioned in 2007 to address the contentious issue of "reasonable accommodations" for religious minorities -- recommends using "adjustments," "adaptations" and "harmonizations" in place of "accommodations" when dealing with the issue, the Montreal Gazette reported Monday.

The main authors of the report, Gerard Bouchard and Charles Taylor, wrote that "accommodations" implies that the majority is doing a favor to minorities.

"The main goal of adjustments is to protect minorities against flaws in the laws of the majority, and not the contrary. (The adjustments) guarantee that every person enjoys the same rights," the authors wrote.

"Sometimes different treatment is needed to ensure an equal right. It's not a question of a privilege. It's a reasonable adaptation."