"This may not be a popular take,"

began Councillor Ian Ward at an October 10, 2023, Colwood City Council Meeting. In his speech, Councillor Ward outlined why two churches in his community should not receive permissive tax exemptions this year.

Recently, North Cowichan municipal district council denied a property tax exemption to a crisis pregnancy center.

Campbell River city council voted on September 28 to cut the property tax exemptions for the Vancouver Island Mental Health Society and the local art gallery.

How did we end up in a situation where some publicly funded facilities are permitted to refuse to provide healthcare services in BC? To answer this question we need to look at the history of healthcare in BC and how religious hospitals came to play a part in our medical system.

As our province grows increasingly diverse, the need for a strong and inclusive public education system has never been more apparent. At the heart of this endeavor lies the foundation of a humanist society, where reason, compassion, and critical thinking flourish. We recognize the profound importance of public education as a catalyst for nurturing these values and shaping a brighter future for all.

The distribution of Gideon Bible in BC actually only ended in December 2016.

Did you know that BC requires every public school to be "strictly secular and non sectarian"?

In fact, this requirement has been in place since the School Act was first introduced in 1872.

The Canadian constitution does not have a formal establishment clause separating church and state as the USA does, so can Canada be considered a secular country? In this presentation, BC Humanist Association Executive Director Ian Bushfield argued that Canada’s unique legal and political history, coupled with a forward-looking Charter of Rights and Freedoms and judiciary, has resulted in more robust protections for the nonreligious and state neutrality than presently exist in America.

By Prof. Abby Day (Goldsmiths, University of London); Visiting Research Fellow, Centre for the Study of Religion and Society, University of Victoria.

Many members of the BC Humanists generously responded to my request in the summer of 2020 to help with interviews for my latest research project on Baby Boomers and religion. Baby Boomers, born post-WWII and defining the 1960s’ cultural revolutions, were the last generation to be routinely baptised, confirmed and taken regularly to mainstream, Anglican/Episcopalian churches. Their parents raised them to be church-attending, and yet questioning semi-conformists, enabling them to become ex-religious and to raise the Millennials to be the least religious generation ever.

Last week we published our latest report: Open for Unconstitutional Business, our detailed examination of prayers in Ontario municipalities. In it, we spent ten pages exploring the complexities raised by the growing prevalence of Indigenous territorial acknowledgements, welcoming ceremonies and even blessings at municipal council meetings. Our arguments built upon our past discussions of the issues—notably Decolonizing Legislative Prayers.

How fortuitous then that the BC Court of Appeal should release a significant judgement in the case of Servatius v Alberni School District No 70. This case dealt with Candice Servatius, an Evangelical Christian parent, who argued that Indigenous demonstrations at her children's school violated their religious freedom and the state duty of neutrality.