The BC Humanist Association (BCHA) is declaring 'the end of municipal prayers in British Columbia' following a commitment from the City of Parksville that there will not be prayers in the city's next inaugural council meeting.
The decision avoided a lawsuit against the city by the BCHA, who dropped the threat of legal action over prayers provided at inaugural meetings in 2018 and 2022.
The BCHA cleared the issue with the city's lawyers recently. The legal personnel indicated, should mayor Doug O’Brien be re-elected in 2026, he commits to there not being any religious prayers at the inaugural council meeting; and, should mayor O’Brien not be re-elected in 2026, Chief Administrative Officer Caoimhe Kehler commits to advising the mayor-elect and newly elected council of its obligation to ensure religious neutrality and to strongly recommend that the mayor-elect not include any religious prayers at the inaugural Council meeting.
“Nine years after the Saguenay ruling, we’re thrilled to be able to declare B.C.’s municipal council meetings prayer-free," said Ian Bushfield, Executive Director, BC Humanist Association. "We will remain vigilant as we will undoubtedly have to continue playing whack-a-mole with instances of local politicians privileging religion over non-religion in the public sphere. We strongly encourage every local government to look closely at the responses we received from municipalities ranging from Belcarra to Vancouver.”
In 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled opening council meetings with prayers was an unconstitutional violation of the state’s duty of religious neutrality. Since then, most municipalities in Canada have ceased the practice; however, in auditing compliance with the ruling, the BCHA has identified multiple scofflaws across the country.
The BCHA wrote to seven municipalities in November asking for commitments to respect the duty of religious neutrality. Only the cities of Parksville and Vancouver refused. The BCHA worked with pro-bono counsel to press for a response, raising the spectre of legal challenges.
Last month, the City of Vancouver acknowledged that the multi-faith prayers delivered at its 2022 inaugural ceremony were “a breach of the duty of religious neutrality.” They committed to ensuring that future inaugural meetings comply with the law.
The BCHA identified Belcarra, Colwood, Delta, Parksville, Tumbler Ridge, Vancouver and West Kelowna as having religious content in their 2022 inaugural council meetings. In its 2020 report, the BCHA found no BC municipalities with prayers in regular meetings.
The BCHA has since identified prayers in the regular and inaugural meetings in Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario municipalities. Further research into the remaining provinces will be published in the coming months as part of the Saguenay Project.