The past year has seen some big advances for Humanist values in British Columbia - and for the BC Humanist Association itself.
The highlight of the year, for me, came in June when the Supreme Court of Canada affirmed the decisions of law societies in BC and Ontario to reject Trinity Western University's proposed law school. Specifically, Justice Malcolm Rowe adopted our arguments that organizations don't have an inherent right to religious freedom.
We also put a lot of work into two new initiatives.
First, we released a detailed look at the property tax giveaways to churches by municipalities across BC. This included a series of case studies showing how some cities are applying public benefits tests to make sure they're getting a fair return for those deductions.
Second, we scrutinized the $425 million BC gives to private schools in BC to show the primary beneficiaries are Catholic and Evangelical schools. We documented clear examples of schools that use this money to teach creationism in science classrooms.
We've been able to do this because of your continued support. We continue to raise more money than ever and our emails reach 40% more people than one year ago as our Association continues to grow.
But we're only just getting started.
The Government of BC has enacted most of its campaign promises into law, which means it's never been a better time to put a Secular BC on the provincial agenda. With the stances we've taken, we have a clear set of priorities for this government going into 2019.
Read our priorities for a Secular BC and add your support
We will share our call - and your support - with Premier John Horgan and his cabinet before the legislature resumes in February.
But we also need your support to continue to build the Association.
Please consider becoming or renewing your membership or making a tax-deductible donation.