TORONTO (RNS/ENI) A Canadian judge has ruled that a Nova Scotia man’s will could not legally stipulate the religion of purchasers of his home, calling the move discriminatory.

Thomas Allan Peach instructed in his will — drawn up more than 25 years ago — that his house be sold to an Anglican or Presbyterian and that the proceeds become part of his estate.

Peach, a single man with no children who died in April 2009, was a longtime member of St. Mary’s Anglican Church in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia. A former high school teacher, he once studied for the Anglican ministry.

The executor of his will had asked the courts to rule on whether the clause was legal. In a decision released on Jan. 19, Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice David MacAdam noted that the province’s Human Rights Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of religion in the purchase or sale of property.

Peach’s stipulation “is clearly discriminatory on the basis of religion,” the judge said, adding that “the executor, in carrying out the intentions of the testator, would necessarily have to violate the Human Rights Act.

“As a result,” the judge said, “in the sale of the subject property, the executor is not restricted to purchasers who are Anglican or Presbyterian.”