The Saguenay Project is the BC Humanist Association's research-driven advocacy campaign for secularism in municipal council meetings.
The Project promotes compliance with the Supreme Court of Canada's 2015 decision in MLQ v Saguenay, which found that prayers in municipal council meetings violated the state's duty of religious neutrality.
By auditing their practices, the BCHA is encouraging local governments to make their meetings more accessible and welcoming to people of all beliefs and none.
Each report follows a similar model and methodology but explores issues specific to the practice relating to ongoing municipal prayer in those jurisdictions.
Reports
The following table lists our reports on prayers in each province. The denominators show the total number of municipalities reviewed in each study, which was sometimes restricted to those with a population over 1000 (Ontario, Alberta and Saskatchewan) or for every municipality for which we could find data (BC and Manitoba).
| Report | Province | Date | Regular prayers | Inaugural prayers |
| Duty of Neutrality Beyond Saguenay | BC | Nov 2020 | 0/162 | 23*/162 |
| In Open Defiance | MB | Mar 2022 | 4/101 | 6/101 |
| Open for Unconstitutional Business | ON | Dec 2022 | 9/360 | 156/328 |
| We Yelled at Them Until They Stopped | BC | Nov 2023 | 0/161 | 7/148 |
| The Last Municipality Standing | AB | May 2024 | 6/177 | 6/172 |
| An Impossible Task | BC | Oct 2024 | 2/95 | 3/90 |
*We identified three more prayers at BC's 2018 inaugural meetings in We Yelled At Them Until We Stopped, bringing the total to 26.
While these studies are ongoing, several emerging trends can be identified:
- The number of municipalities including prayer in their meetings (regular or inaugural) has declined since Saguenay. Some municipalities responded to the ruling by changing their practices: sometimes abolishing the practice altogether, other times altering or adjusting their procedures.
- Despite this reduction, prayer continues to be included in some municipal council meetings, particularly inaugural meetings, across the country.
- These prayers are disproportionately delivered by Christian men.
Volunteer
The Saguenay Project is powered by volunteers. Our supporters have helped identify municipalities violating the duty of religious neutrality, transcribed prayers and are even involved in the writing of our reports.
Achievements
Following the release of Duty of Neutrality Beyond Saguenay, the BCHA began writing to municipalities that included prayers in their 2018 inaugural meetings. Following this advocacy, only seven included prayers in their 2022 inaugural meetings.
The BCHA sought commitments from these final seven communities and, following threats of legal action, was able to declare British Columbia municipal councils 'prayer-free' in July 2024.
Latest news
See more municipal prayers posts.