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TORONTO — A campaign to ban circumcision for infants and children has taken hold in Iceland and Denmark but is far too radical a notion for Canada to consider, say observers here.

Despite declining rates of circumcision, many Canadians remain ardent advocates of the right to snip — and not just for religious reasons, notes York University human rights Prof. Minoo Derayeh.

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The academic, a specialist on world religions, notes that Canada’s significantly more racially diverse population makes the politicized issue tougher to reconcile with a national identity rooted in tolerance and liberalism.

“Our immigration law is more towards multiculturalism so we are all a part of the mosaic and it’s a part of the identity of people,” says Derayeh, noting it would be hard for a Jewish or Muslim person to not see this as an affront to tenets of their faith.

A Canadian Jewish human rights group condemned the Nordic movement this week, insisting “there can be no Jewish community without circumcision.”