The BC Humanist Association brought secular, evidence-based priorities directly into the legislature's 2027 budget consultation. While Members of the Legislative Assembly on the Finance Committee stopped short of adopting them, the final report cited BCHA's arguments on climate policy, property taxation and private-school funding, helping build the case for future policy change.
This past June, the BCHA submitted written recommendations, informed by feedback from its members, touching on three main priorities:
- End statutory property tax exemptions for places of public worship;
- Phase out public funding for faith-based and elite independent schools; and
- Centre climate initiatives that deliver measurable emissions reductions, community resilience, and long-term cost savings.
“These recommendations are about ensuring that public policy and public dollars serve British Columbians equally, regardless of their religious beliefs or lack thereof,” said BCHA Executive Director Ian Bushfield. “Being heard in a provincial consultation is one small part of building a more secular and evidence-based approach to the BC Legislature.”
The BC Legislature's all-party Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services released its report on the consultation in August. The Committee heard 387 presentations and received 1,102 written submissions.
Climate
Under Environment and Parks: Climate Policy, the report reads, “the BC Humanist Association stat[es] that strategic investments in climate resilience can reduce future liabilities while protecting communities and maintaining economic stability.” However, the executive summary largely overlooks these concerns, and the Committee makes no meaningful recommendations on climate policy.
Fair Property Tax Exemptions
Under Housing, Local Government and Libraries: Taxation, the BCHA was mentioned for our recommendation to end “automatic property tax exemptions for places of worship.” The report also notes in the following sentence that, “in contrast, two veterans’ organizations called for a more consistent, province-wide approach to property tax relief in recognition of the role of these organizations within communities.” This represents a fundamental misunderstanding of the recommendation to end statutory property tax exemptions for places of public worship.
As our original recommendation read, “eliminating statutory exemptions would not prevent municipalities from supporting religious organizations that provide demonstrable public benefit… Instead, local governments would be empowered to assess exemption requests from religious organizations on the same basis as those submitted by secular charities.”
Public Funding for Public Schools
Finally, the BCHA’s recommendation to phase out public funding to elite and faith-based independent schools was included under K-12 Education: Public School Alternatives. Here, the BCHA’s recommendation is included and echoed by similar arguments from Vancouver Island North Teachers’ Association, Mission Literacy in Motion and the Institute for Public Education BC. All argued that scarce public education funding should be reserved for the public system that serves all British Columbians.
This recommendation often faces the most backlash and debate, and the BC Budget consultation report is no exception. The report quotes the Association for Reformed Political Action (ARPA), a self-described “grassroots Christian” organization, which argues that private religious schools reduce pressure on the public education system. However, there is little evidence to support this claim. New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador do not provide public funding for private schools and spend less on education than British Columbia.
Our Supporters Drive Our Impact
Our supporters actively shaped our submission. Together, we elevated those shared priorities through the BCHA's collective voice, ensuring they were reflected in the committee's consultation report.
Although the Committee did not adopt the BCHA's priorities among its 81 recommendations, the references to our submission reflect the growing discourse on religious neutrality, public funding and secular governance in the provincial policy conversation.
Policy change rarely happens in a single budget cycle. BCHA’s role is to ensure secular and humanist perspectives are represented when governments make decisions about public dollars. By participating in consultations like this one, we put ideas that might otherwise be absent onto the legislative record and build the case for future reform.
Join the BCHA to have your voice heard in our work.