A new bill before the Manitoba legislature would scrap antiquated provisions that permit religious instruction and exercises in public schools.
On Thursday, March 6, the Manitoba government introduced 28 separate bills in a single day. Among them, Bill 40 will modernize the Public Schools Act by repealing unconstitutional and antiquated sections around religion in schools.
In 2023, the BC Humanist Association released Religion in Public School Acts, which documented the provinces that still include provisions to permit prayers and Bible studies in schools.
"Prayers have no place in secular public schools," said BCHA Executive Director Ian Bushfield. "We're pleased to see the Government of Manitoba move to modernize its Public Schools Act and we encourage the other provinces to do the same."
While Manitoba's Act requires schools to be "non-sectarian," additional provisions permit "religious exercises" and "religious instruction" when authorized by the local school board. Much of this language dates back to the resolution of the Manitoba Schools Question crisis in the late nineteenth century, nearly a hundred years before the Charter of Rights and Freedoms was introduced.
The language around religious exercises has remained in the Act even after a 1992 Court ruling declaring those sections unconstitutional. However, the sections on religious instruction remained in effect.
The BCHA is encouraging Manitoba residents to email their MLA in support of Bill 40.
Notably, the new Manitoba bill leaves in a provision for parents to petition for religious exercises in schools, another remnant of the compromises made one hundred years ago.
Additionally, the bill:
- dissolves the educational Advisory Board,
- requires districts to implement a policy around land and treaty acknowledgements,
- creates statutory (rather than regulatory) requirements around the singing of O Canada, and
- requires that every school observe Remembrance Day.
Alberta and Saskatchewan both permit prayers and religious instruction in schools. Ontario and Northwest Territories allow religious instruction. New Brunswick's regulations permit Bible readings or the Lord's Prayer and Newfoundland and Labrador's Act allows parents to request a religious observance in schools. There are reports of prayers in public schools as recently as 2019 in Alberta and 2023 in Saskatchewan.