The following was the script for my remarks to Vancouver's No Tyrants rally on October 18, 2026. My actual speech varied slightly as I went off script at a few points.

Friends, thank you for being here today — for standing up for democracy, for equality, and for one another. Not just here in Vancouver but for our neighbours in America and for everyone across the world.

Today millions of us are declaring with one voice: No Tyrants. No Kings. We are saying that power belongs to the people.

Yesterday, politicians returned to the Legislative Assembly of BC. One of their first orders of business was a motion to condemn the Association for Reformed Political Action (ARPA).

In the summer, the BC legislature's finance committee published its report on the Budget 2026 consultations. As an organization dedicated to promoting progressive and secular values, we participated in these consultations to ensure the voices of the 52% of British Columbians who are humanist or non-religious were heard. Our advocacy is resonating as our priorities were reflected in the Committee’s discussions.

On Tuesday afternoon, I joined a couple dozen other secularists outside Kelowna City Hall to call on the City to revisit its religious property tax exemption handouts.

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.