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.

The Supreme Court of British Columbia is currently hearing arguments over whether religious organizations should be exempt from the province's privacy laws.

We are delighted to announce that the BC Humanist Association has made a substantial donation of nearly $20,000 to Rainbow Refugee, an organization dedicated to supporting LGBTQI+ refugees forced from their home countries by discrimination, persecution and abuse. This donation is more than just a financial contribution: it represents the humanist commitment to creating a world where all individuals are treated with dignity and respect, regardless of their gender identity or sexual orientation.

Despite an increasingly secular population, the school acts and regulations in five provinces still permit religious exercises in Canada according to a new analysis from the BC Humanist Association.

Court cases in Ontario, Manitoba and British Columbia have deemed the practice illegal but the school acts of three prairie provinces still allow prayers in schools and regulations in New Brunswick permit teachers to read scriptures or deliver the Lord's Prayer. Additionally, Newfound and Labrador's Education Act allows parents to request a 'religious observance' in schools.

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.

In light of a series of traumatic stories documenting patients forced to transfer from St Paul's Hospital and other religious healthcare facilities in BC to access a legal medically-assisted death, the BC Humanist Association is renewing calls for the province to end its agreement with sectarian health associations.