Humanist group threatening to sue Vancouver over council prayers

The B.C. Humanist Association has threatened legal action against the City of Vancouver for allowing prayers at council, following a similar warning issued earlier this month to a smaller community on Vancouver Island.

Vancouver was one of seven municipalities across B.C. that included "a prayer or religious content" in the inaugural council meetings that followed the 2022 civic election, according to the BCHA.

The Supreme Court of Canada found opening council meetings with prayers was unconstitutional in a unanimous 2015 decision – calling the practice a "breach of the state's duty of neutrality" – and the BCHA has been auditing compliance with the ruling since 2020.

"By including prayers in their 2022 inaugural meeting, Vancouver sent a clear message that elevated some religions over others, and religion over non-religion," said Dr. Teale Phelps Bondaroff, research co-ordinator with the BCHA, in a statement.

The association asked Vancouver staff for a commitment to stop allowing prayers at council, but was told the plans for inauguration ceremonies are decided by the incoming mayor.

A Jan. 8 letter from the city manager, shared by the BCHA, reads: "Following the next municipal election in 2026, we will address this matter with the mayor-elect for their consideration."

The letter also described the prayers heard in 2022 as "non-denominational," as they included five religious representatives, and noted that normal council meetings do not include "prayers of any type."

Despite that, the BCHA warned in a news release that absent a "public commitment" to stop including prayers at all, the association is "preparing to commence legal proceedings" against the city.

Asked about the legal threat, a city spokesperson provided a statement saying Vancouver is "considering the issues raised" and will respond to the association "in due course." Mayor Ken Sim has not responded to a request for comment.

Prior to the 2022 meeting, the last time prayers were included in an inaugural Vancouver council meeting was when Sam Sullivan was sworn in as mayor in 2006, according to the BCHA.

Earlier this month, the association announced similar plans to take Parksville, a community of around 12,000 people located north of Nanaimo, to court for breaching religious neutrality by including a Christian prayer at its last inaugural council meeting.

"I've been asked to pray a blessing so that's what I'm going to do," Andrew Gulevich of the Parksville Fellowship Baptist Church said at the inauguration. "I invite you to pray with me to our God."

The BCHA said it has asked Parksville officials to "observe the law" with respect to religious neutrality three times since the inauguration but has not received a formal response.

Parksville Mayor Doug O'Brien did not respond to a request for comment on the legal threat last week. A spokesperson for the city declined to comment, telling CTV News the matter is with Parksville's lawyers.