A human rights board is hearing the case of a Halifax man who claims he's being discriminated against on religious and ethnic grounds because his condo board told him to remove his satellite dish.

The hearing into Ahmed Assal's case began Tuesday in Halifax.

Ahmed Assal says he needs a satellite dish to watch his Arabic programs.
(Blair Sanderson/CBC)

Assal, a condo owner in Clayton Park, is a Muslim originally from Egypt. Through his satellite dish, he gets 18 channels of religious and cultural programming in Arabic.

Without it, he says his children could not get the programs essential to their education.

"I have a family, I have children, and the serious matter is that it is for culture, religion, language," he told reporters after the hearing.

Assal acknowledges he knew about the condominium board's bylaw that prohibits satellite dishes before he bought the condo.

But he says other rules regarding pets and tree planting are not enforced. So if the board makes exceptions for other condo owners, Assal argued, why shouldn't it do the same for him?

The managers say they do not give preferential treatment.

The ban is in place because satellite dishes spoil the look of the buildings and can cause structural damage, they say.

Manager Don Buck said it is possible to make an exception to a bylaw if the request is made in writing, but he said Assal never did this.

Assal says he was told over the phone the board might allow the dish as long as it wasn't installed on a roof or a fence. He decided to put it up on a tree in a common area.

The human rights hearing is scheduled to continue for another two days.

Once the testimony is complete, board chair Royden Trainor will decide if Assal was discriminated against and what penalties, if any, should be levied against Halifax Condominium Corporation No. 4.