Wellesley Township keeps prayer at meetings despite Supreme Court ruling
Court was 'quite clear' in ruling, says expert
Wellesley Township has decided, for the time being, to keep opening council meetings with a prayer despite a recent Supreme Court ruling against the practice at a Quebec town.
Last Wednesday, the country's highest court ruled unanimously that the municipal council in Saguenay, Que. can't open its meetings with prayer, because it infringes on freedom of conscience and religion.
That decision, although based on the Quebec Charter of Human Rights, was noted across Canada, with councils in Ottawa, Windsor, Calgary and Cape Breton dropping prayer from their meetings and seeking legal opinion.
- Saguenay right-to-pray ruling: What it means for religious freedom in politics
- Supreme Court rules against prayer at city council meetings
But Wellesley Township mayor Joe Nowak says the five-member council has decided it's too early to dump the long-held tradition of opening meetings with prayer. Wellesley, located to the northwest of Waterloo, Ont., includes small communities like Linwood and St. Clemens.
"We'll have to wait and see. I know some of the other municipalities are getting a legal opinion on that, to see whether this is something that should be dealt with on a reaction ... basis, or whether have the latitude to just maintain things as they are until somebody complains," said Nowak on Tuesday at the first council meeting since the ruling.
I'm not very comfortable with the idea that certain municipal councils are continuing to hold a prayer given how clear the court was in this case.- Constitutional law expert Emmett MacFarlane
Although the prayer the council uses mentions God, it is non-denominational and not entirely specific to Christianity, he said.
"The intention of the prayer is to look for some inspiration and some guidance to help council make the decisions that, at least that's what I take from it, to make the decisions that reflect the need of of the people of Wellesley Township," said Nowak.
The mayor said he would be open to alternatives, like a religion-neutral moment of silence or moment of reflection.
How the ruling works
What's Wellesley's prayer?
Here's the prayer that council recites before meetings.
OUR TOWNSHIP PRAYER
Almighty God, we pray for your guidance, that we may always be wise and just in governing our Township.
Help us to be mindful of the needs of all our citizens, so that this Council should advance only those causes which will insure peace and harmony in our community, now and always.
Amen
Emmett MacFarlane, an expert in constitutional law and an assistant professor at the University of Waterloo, said although the decision is based in the Quebec Charter of Human Rights, the reasoning behind the court's decision is similar to and draws on the Canadian Charter of Rights of Freedoms.
"It would be very unlikely for a similar case at city council to be decided differently by the court," said MacFarlane.
"We may need someone in Ontario to challenge a municipal prayer for the law to actually be binding in that sense. But given what the Supreme Court has said about state neutrality in the Saguenay case, I think it's quite clear how that court would rule."
As for Wellesley township's decision to keep the prayer, MacFarlane said he's "not very comfortable with the idea that certain municipal councils are continuing to hold a prayer given how clear the court was in this case."
The Edmonton model
Former Ontario Liberal John Milloy is concerned that the Supreme Court ruling favoured non-believers. Milloy served in the provincial cabinet in several roles and was made Government House Leader in 2011. He stepped down from politics in 2014 and will soon begin work at his new role as assistant professor of public ethics and co-director of the Centre for Public Ethics at Waterloo Lutheran Seminary.
"My problem with the Supreme Court use of the word neutrality is that we have a situation which unfortunately can go in a certain direction where, you know to put it in very crass terms, atheists: 1, believers: nothing," said Milloy. "That to my mind is not neutrality. Neutrality is where there are no winners or losers."
Milloy wants to see a way to accommodate those who are believers. He cites Edmonton's city council as an example.
"Different prayers or meditations are used at the opening of each meeting, they have ones that are non-religious but perhaps something that's going to inspire individuals, something that brings people together," he said.
Milloy proposed a rotational schedule to include all faiths and non-believers, for the beginning of meetings.