A proposal to reduce tax exemptions for religious organizations and charities in Langley City failed on Monday evening following concerted protest from local churches. Councillor Rudy Storteboom presented, for discussion, a motion that would have reduced property tax exemptions for 29 church and non-profit properties. No one seconded the motion.

Currently, the Government of BC provides automatic tax breaks on houses of worship while municipalities can create exemptions for other properties, such as parking lots. The proposal before Langley City would only have affected this latter category.

Ex-military Humanists wrote to the Grandview Legion today asking for future Remembrance Day ceremonies to represent all who have served.

In a letter to the Vancouver Sun on Monday, November 16, Suzanne Salter wrote that this year's ceremony at Grandview Cenotaph included "long prayers and Christian references to the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ" but "there wasn't an attempt to include other religions into the ceremony." The ceremony was organized by the Royal Canadian Legion, Grandview Branch #179.

The BC Humanist Association joins free speech organizations and writers in a joint letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau calling for urgent action to provide humanitarian assistance to secular and Humanist writers, bloggers, and academics in Bangladesh.

The letter is the latest pressure put on the Government of Canada by freethought organizations. Tareq Rahim, one of the victims of the most recent attacks, remains in hospital in Dhaka while his wife (a Canadian citizen) continues to press for him to be allowed to recover with her in Canada.

The BC Humanist Association and Centre for Inquiry Canada have spoken out against events on Vancouver Island featuring alternative medicine proponent Brian Clement.

Clement has been widely criticized for reportedly claiming that after attending his clinic people have been cured of a wide range of conditions including multiple sclerosis. Last year, two Canadian aboriginal girls with leukemia abandoned their evidence based treatments in favour of Clement's treatments. One of the girls later died and the other was withdrawn from the clinic.

The BC Humanist Association today called on BC Minister of Health Terry Lake to reverse his decision to refuse recommendations to guarantee access to assisted dying through the BC health care system.

The all-party Select Standing Committee on Health had presented its recommendations on assisted dying regulations in BC following a year-long consultation with British Columbians. Rather than adopt the recommendations, the Minister and BC Government instead chose not to endorse the report until the federal government acts.

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Following the latest attacks on Humanist and atheist writers, bloggers and intellectuals in Bangladesh, the BC Humanist Association is calling on Prime Minister designate Justin Trudeau to make Canada a "safe haven" for those facing persecution for their views.

This weekend, religious fanatics murdered Humanist Faisal Arefin Dipon and sent three more Humanist bloggers to hospital in Bangladesh. Dipon published freethought and pro-secular books, including some by Avijit Roy who was murdered in a separate attack earlier this year in Dhaka.

The International Humanist and Ethical Union has more details on this latest assault on free expression.

Yesterday the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada released a joint declaration opposing assisted dying.

Michael Coren sums up their opposition in today’s Toronto Star:

No to abortion, no to gay rights, no to euthanasia. Because [the Christian right] have lost the first two they are fighting like zealots to defend the last.

A senior Liberal adviser has told CBC that Justin Trudeau's new Liberal Government is considering asking the Supreme Court for an additional six months delay in bringing forward legislation to comply with the Court's unanimous decision in February to end the prohibition on physician assisted dying. This would mean that helping someone in suffering hasten their death would remain a criminal offence.

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A Bishop has told parents that Prince George Catholic Schools will not obey government rules that allow students to consent to getting the HPV vaccine. Rev Stephen Jensen also tells parents "abstinence is the only healthy choice."

The warnings came in a letter from the Bishop that was attached to HPV vaccine permission slips sent home with students.