As New Brunswick residents prepare for the upcoming municipal elections on May 11, a new report from the BC Humanist Association (BCHA) is putting religious neutrality at the center of the democratic debate. The study, titled Godless Serenity: Unconstitutional prayers in New Brunswick municipal council meetings, reveals that a decade after the Supreme Court of Canada’s landmark Saguenay ruling, several New Brunswick local governments are still opening meetings with religious rituals or "stealth prayers" designed to circumvent the law.
The audit found that while nearly most municipalities have transitioned to secular practices, a stubborn minority—including Dieppe, Grand Manan, Miramichi, and Tobique Valley—continue to feature prayer in their regular council meetings. Researchers identified a growing trend of "stealth prayer," where councils recite traditional Christian verses, such as the Serenity Prayer, but simply remove the word "God" in an attempt to bypass constitutional requirements for neutrality.
“Municipal councils are at their best when every resident can walk into the room knowing they belong there, regardless of their religion or lack thereof,” said Dr. Teale Phelps Bondaroff, Research Coordinator for the BCHA. “The constitutional duty of religious neutrality is not a technicality; it is a commitment to equal citizenship, to inclusion, and to good governance. When municipalities open their meetings with prayer, they send the message that some residents are more welcome than others, and that is unacceptable.”
The report highlights the 2022 municipal restructuring in New Brunswick as a missed opportunity for some communities to modernize their practices, while others used the amalgamation process to successfully update their procedural bylaws. With a new set of local leaders soon to be elected, the BCHA argues that voters should demand a commitment to inclusion from all candidates.
Ian Bushfield, Executive Director of the BCHA, emphasized that the transition to secularism is a matter of basic fairness in a diverse province.
"With municipal elections around the corner, candidates have a fresh opportunity to pledge that their council chambers will be truly inclusive spaces. Adopting a moment of silence or a secular reflection is a simple, legal, and respectful way to ensure that local government belongs to everyone, not just those who share a specific faith."
The BCHA is calling on the next generation of New Brunswick mayors and councillors to ensure all inaugural council meetings and swearing-in ceremonies are secular and inclusive.