Alberta's provincewide review and new standards for school library books, ostensibly aimed at removing “explicit sexual content,” raises troubling questions about the true motivations behind government policy and echoes a significant past legal battle over religious influence in public education.

Over recent years, we've watch the evolving landscape of religious belief and affiliation in Canada with keen interest. New data from Pew Research Center's international religious switching report offers compelling insights into these changes. For Humanists, there's much to be optimistic about, particularly the significant increase in the number of religiously unaffiliated Canadians.

On April 15, 2015, the Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada released their decision in Mouvement laïque québécois vs the City of Saguenay. It ended a nearly nine-year battle between atheist Alain Simoneau and the City's Mayor over whether prayers could be said before a municipal council meeting.

The Justices were unanimous: The prayers violated the state's duty of religious neutrality, as guaranteed by the right to freedom of religion and conscience under the Canadian and Quebec Charters of Rights and Freedoms.

Across the world, we've seen a resurgence of Christian Nationalism in 2024 that threatens many of the gains that progressive secularists have fought and won over the past few decades. Today, toxic polarization and the rejection of evidence-based decision-making infects so much of the discourse and undermines democratic and humanist values.

Against these headwinds and with your support, the BCHA has continued to advance secularism here in British Columbia and across Canada. Our movement is thriving and making substantive gains at all levels of government. We're well-positioned to continue this work into 2025 but we need you with us.

Lawyers argued over the constitutionality of BC's privacy law at the BC Court of Appeal yesterday in an ongoing dispute between the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of BC.

The BCHA was able to bring the voice of those who've chosen to dissociate from religion to the court.

The small city of Rossland in the West Kootenays voted last month to tax some vacant land around the local Catholic Church.

On June 30, 2024, as rainbows and drag queens marched down Yonge Street with the Toronto Pride Parade, a trio of evangelical churches in Greater Toronto hosted the leader of the opposition and local Conservative Party candidates for campaign-style rallies at their church services.

Thomas Jefferson's "wall of separation between Church and State" and the Canadian "duty of religious neutrality" have long delineated political and ecclesiastical matters. However, another wall has long existed between charities (including churches) and the state. Today, we're examining whether those religious rallies have breached that wall.

British Columbians go to the polls on October 19, 2024, to elect our next provincial government. As an organization that seeks to promote secular and progressive values, we're gearing up to ensure the candidates vying for your votes hear the voices and concerns of Humanists.

While we have several core issues to ask candidates about, we wanted feedback from our members about their priorities and what they want to see us ask. Our survey ran over two weeks and was sent to our entire membership list. Nearly 20% of our members responded. We asked two open-ended questions to get unfiltered feedback.

Churches and all other non-profit organizations in Terrace will soon have to pay some property taxes under changes approved by Council on June 10.

A recent legal battle over the tax status of an island in the Salish Sea sheds some light on the privileges some religious institutions enjoy in British Columbia (BC). Expressly, the conditions under which places of public worship qualify for property tax exemptions.