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December 08, 2006
Newly elected councillors for the Town of Bancroft placed their hand on a bible as they swore to abide by the rules of their publicly elected office and then they bowed their heads for the prayer of invocation. A Reverend lead the prayer by saying that things seldom stay the same for long, a bit of irony considering it is the act of praying at public council meetings that will be one of the first items of debate on the new council's plate. An organization called Secular Ontario lead by president Henry Beissel is determined to weed religious practices out of politics and right now is focusing on municipal politics. Bancroft as well as Hastings Highlands are two of 18 councils to receive letters in the last few weeks demanding that they cease to put the Lord's Prayer on the council meeting agenda. The request came to a shock to administrators and some council members. Bancroft to Barrys Bay is known for being a "bible belt" and the communities are predominantly Christian. The request also marks a huge shift in cultural thinking since the majority of councillors, and anyone born up to the end of the 70s in Ontario, grew up saying the Lord's Prayer in classrooms. Beissel, a 77-year old emeritus English professor from Concordia University now residing in Ottawa, has a good bye and good riddance attitude. His organization culled the Internet looking for municipalities that posted agendas with the Lord's Prayer on them. The letter warns councils that it has come to the attention of Secular Ontario the council is praying and that this is in contravention of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the tenants of the Municipal Act. The basis of the claim is that a 1996 court of appeal decision in the case of Freitag vs. Penetanguishine found that the reciting of the Lord's Prayer before council meetings contravened the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Beissel's letter threatens to take action but in a story published by the Ottawa Sun last weekend, and widely circulated on the internet, Beissel told the newspaper, legal action was a possibility but had not been discussed by Secular Ontario. His plan at present is to present the list of offending councils to the Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister John Gerretsen. The story says that Gerretsen's office has interpreted the 1996 decision as being specific to Penetanguishine and that there is no policy on the matter. Deborah Callander and Henry Freigtag sued Penetanguishine for costs in their pursuit of an application under section 24 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom and Rules through the Superior Court of Justice. The pair were members of the public frequently attending council meetings in the Town of Midland. The duo felt the recitation at the opening of council meetings of the prayer infringed upon their fundamental rights of freedom of conscience and religion. The town settled by paying the duo $664. Freitag had previously tried to get the Lord's Prayer removed from the provincial legislature in the past and failed. In 2001, the court ruled that the Human Rights Commission lacked jurisdiction over a challenge to the Legislature's standing order to say the prayer. The Lord's Prayer is a parliamentary tradition established in Ontario in 1791 by Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe. A ruling that apparently does not sit well Beissel, who told the Ottawa Sun that he believes there is no room in public office for religion. He went even further and was quoted as saying, "if the human species is to survive, it is going to have to get rid of religion."
Barry Wannamaker, Chief Administrative Officer of the Town of Bancroft, says he has never seen anything about the issue come to the council table during his tenure until now. He explained it will be up to the council to decide what they will do with Secular Ontario's warning. Wannamaker has not received any communications from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs about the issue. Wannamaker suggested it would be a surprise if the new council chooses to change this old tradition.
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