Manitobans are being invited by Premier Wab Kinew to weigh in on what kind of prayer should open the daily sessions of the provincial legislature.
Kinew wants to replace the current non-denominational Christian prayer, which dates back to 1937, with something that is more “representative and inclusive” for all Manitobans today — religious and non-religious alike.
“I have a deep reverence for Christianity,” Kinew said, noting he begins each day with a prayer from his Anishinabe tradition. But the province today is made up of people from many different religions and non-believers, he added.
“What is the space for an atheist?” he said. “Or for someone who puts secularism first?”
Kinew plans to host a roundtable of people from various faiths or no faith to assist the province in updating the opening. No timetable has been given for holding the roundtable.
Response from faith leaders in the province has been positive. For Payam Towfigh, president of the Manitoba Multifaith Council, the Premier’s request “makes so much sense.”
Towfigh, who is a member of Winnipeg’s Baha’i community, believes it can be a way to emphasize the commonalities among the province’s religious groups. “We have more in common than what makes us different,” he said.
Julie Graham, the United Church of Canada’s regional minister for justice and communication, said she agrees the prayer “should include the entire community and should reflect the great diversity of paths that lead us to God.”
Since it might be impossible to come up with a single prayer that makes everyone feel included, she suggested “a collection of prayers and opening words may ultimately be the best way forward.”
Tanis Moore, sensei of the Manitoba Buddhist Temple, would like to see a different prayer from the various faith traditions used on a rotating basis. “That way there won’t be a suggested prayer that will be very difficult to compose and probably won’t satisfy everyone,” she said.
Archbishop Richard Gagnon of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Winnipeg agreed. “It is more meaningful to have a variety of prayers to start the legislature rather than some sort of generic one,” he said. “This would respect the multi-faith reality in Manitoba.”
No prayer at all
Leslie Rosenblood is a board member and secular chair of the Centre for Inquiry Canada, an organization that encourages organizations and governments to make evidence-based decisions that improve lives in Canada and around the world.
For him, the best approach is no prayer at all. “We believe government should be neutral in matters of religion and that any prayer at the commencement of official duties is a violation of this secular principle,” he said.
Referencing the 2015 Supreme Court of Canada decision that “unambiguously decreed that opening municipal council sessions with a prayer was unlawful,” he went on to say although the federal or provincial governments are not bound by the Court’s ruling, “the same reasoning applies to all levels of government.”
Plus, he said, non-denominational prayers can’t be inclusive. “They exclude the non-believing community and often implicitly invoke the deities or traditions of particular faiths,” he said, adding even rotating prayers “create a host of problems related to fairness and representation.”
It is better for the government to remain neutral in matters of religion, Rosenblood said, “and have those politicians who wish to pray do so in their own way, on their own time.”
For Humanist Canada, “our position is really that in any public space, prayer of one tradition or another should not be recited,” said president Martin Frith. If an opening is needed, a moment of silence or reflection would suffice, he suggested.
Currently, almost all provincial legislatures and Parliament itself open with some sort of prayer.
In Yukon, there are four standard prayers available for use. In B.C., Nunavut and the Northwest Territories, MLAs can share a prayer of their own devising. In Alberta, the decision about what prayer to use falls to the Speaker. In Saskatchewan, a non-denominational prayer is read.
The Lord’s Prayer is used in Ontario, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. Nova Scotia dropped that prayer in 2021 in favour of a moment of quiet reflection. In Quebec, sittings also begin with a moment of quiet reflection.
The House of Commons and the Senate begin each daily session with a nondenominational prayer, followed by time for silent reflection.
