Mississauga council drops Lord's Prayer
Mississauga council has dropped the tradition of reciting the Lord’s Prayer

thestar.com
April 29, 2015
San Grewal

Mississauga council has ended its tradition of reciting the Lord’s Prayer at the beginning of its meetings at City Hall, following a Supreme Court ruling two weeks ago that set a precedent on the issue.

“It’s just so overdue, I don’t even want to talk about it any more,” said Councillor Carolyn Parrish, who in January, before the high court ruling, had called for an end to the tradition. “We are a law-making body; how we could not follow the highest court in the land, I wouldn’t have been able to comprehend that.”

The Supreme Court recently ruled that Saguenay, Que., Mayor Jean Tremblay, was violating the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms by conducting a prayer at the start of council meetings, ruling that the practice was tantamount to the imposition of religion by the local government.

Constitutional experts quickly stated that the Supreme Court would likely reach the same decision outside Quebec, if a complaint is filed under the Canadian Charter, because the two charters are very similar in regard to this particular issue.

Mississauga joins Oshawa, which this week also decided to drop its prayer that had been recited prior to the start of council meetings. Brampton ended the practice earlier in the year, after new Mayor Linda Jeffrey was elected in October and said she encouraged the move to better represent the realities of a changing society.

Parrish voiced similar reasons for Mississauga’s decision. “We’re told Mississauga is almost 60 per cent visible minority, some of whom may be Christian, but the point is, we are so diverse. How would you feel if you had to attend a municipal meeting and stand for a prayer that you’re not even familiar with? I don’t know who prays before they make a political decision - I don’t.”

Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie said she was happy with Wednesday’s unanimous decision by council. But she acknowledged that she supported the practice of reciting the prayer when it was debated in January.

“I spoke in favour of the Lord’s Prayer, I did. Now, it’s a matter of respecting the Supreme Court’s decision. It saves us from our own parochialism.”

She said council will soon make a decision about how to start meetings.

“In two weeks we’re going to bring back a discussion about what to do - just launch into the meeting, or a moment of silence, or maybe sing ‘O Canada.’”