Call to end daily prayers

Photo: The Canadian Press

The BC Humanists Association is calling on the provincial government to stop starting every day with a prayer. 

CTV News reports the group, which says it represents humanists and the nonreligious, says MLAs should end the tradition of starting the proceedings of the legislature with a prayer. 

"By rotating who gives the prayer, proponents have claimed the practice is more diverse than other legislatures that simply begin with the Lord’s Prayer or the House of Commons, which begins with a standard prayer," the BC Humanist Association says in a news release. 

The group says it will release a study next week that shows the prayers recited by MLAs "could be categorized as religious."

"The Supreme Court of Canada was clear that our governments have a 'duty of religious neutrality,'" says Ian Bushfield, executive director of BCHA. 

"Giving prayers a prominent space at the start of every day in the legislature marginalizes British Columbians who don’t believe in a god and those who don’t think it’s appropriate for MLAs to use their platform to proselytize their private beliefs. It’s time we end this antiquated and discriminatory practice."

The group says it will be sending its study to the legislature's acting clerk, who is in the midst of a review of the legislatures practices. 

with files from CTV Vancouver