The Easter Bunny is at the centre of a Charter of Rights challenge by a pair of fired foster parents against the Hamilton Children's Aid Society.

The couple, who are devoutly Christian, had two foster children taken away in March 2016 and were barred from fostering other children because they refused to say the mythical rabbit exists.

According to documents filed with the Ontario Supreme Court of Justice, the couple believes "all lying to be morally wrong."

The Spectator has decided not to publish the names of the foster parents to be cautious about the possible identification of the youngsters involved. The law prohibits identifying children who have been taken into care by Children's Aid Societies.

The foster father told The Spectator that they were still planning to host an Easter egg hunt for the girls. But they say the kids were yanked from the home before that happened in the wake of an earlier festering disagreement over them not having arranged a photo of the kids with Santa Claus the previous December.

The two girls, aged three and five, were put into foster care in December 2015 with the couple, who lived in Troy at the time, with the intention to stay for two years. Regular supervised visits with the children's biological parents were scheduled and took place over the four months that the foster arrangement lasted.

The legal challenge is being contested with assistance by the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF), a Calgary-based group that takes on Charter challenges to establish or affirm constitutional rights.

The former foster parents, who do not have children of their own, now live in Calgary. The husband is acquiring accreditation to work as a pastor.

They realize for geographical reasons reinstatement with the Hamilton CAS is not practical at this point but they feel their religious, freedom of expression and other rights were trampled by the CAS decision. And a message needs to be sent out that the CAS must recognize those rights, the husband said.

Lawyer John Carpay from the JCCF said the CAS decision also ignores realities of multicultural Canada.

"There are many Canadians of diverse ethnic, religious and cultural backgrounds. Should they all be disqualified from becoming foster parents because they don't celebrate the Easter Bunny?

"That's discrimination. That's not equal treatment before the law."

But Dominic Verticchio, executive director of Hamilton CAS, stands by the decision.

"These are customary beliefs that are part of children's lives. You just can't say, 'We're not going to observe those.'"

As for disqualifying the foster parents from being custodians of other children, he said: "Sometimes we must ... part ways if they can't respect the norms the children are accustomed to. At times, a clash develops and we are forced to make a decision of what needs to be done."

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The foster father said in an interview that the couple's view that people should not lie about anything, including Easter and Christmas traditions, was made clear to the CAS before they received accreditation as foster parents. It was only later on, with the involvement of a case worker, that the issue became raised.

"My wife and I are committed to telling the truth to children and expecting them to only tell us the truth. As Christians, we believe that lying should be forbidden. We don't want to be any part of that," he said.