CFAX 1070, Dec. 21, 2020

Should churches that break COVID rules lose tax exemptions? 

Churches and religious buildings receive statutory property tax exemptions, and some also get additional property tax relief. Dr. Teale Phelps Bondaroff - BC Humanist Association, joined Adam to talk about if they should be eligible for tax breaks when they are breaking COVID rules?

Times Colonist, Dec. 21, 2020

Churches breaking COVID-19 rules still get government tax breaks

PTEs “exist specifically to support work that benefits the community,” said BCHA researcher Taele Phelps Bondaroff. “So, I would argue that a place of worship that is holding meetings in open defiance of COVID-19 regulations that are in place to keep people safe and prevent the spread of the pandemic is not providing a service that benefits the community – quite the opposite.

Global TV, Dec. 7, 2020

Some Okanagan city councils unconstitutionally included prayer in meetings: report

Teale Phelps Bondaroff, a research coordinator for the association, said the problem with those prayers is that they exclude people.

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“Including prayer in a council meeting necessarily promotes one set of beliefs over others. It tells people that the state endorses this set of beliefs and not others,” Phelps Bondaroff said.

Humanist Canada, Dec.3, 2020

Webinar Series 2020: Strategies in Reproductive Health Activism

This talk surveys a number of these strategies. It will highlight efforts across Canada to increase access to prescription contraception, including the AccessBC Campaign in British Columbia and the ContraceptiON Campaign in Ontario.

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The talk will then delve into the strategy of Women on Waves (WoW), an international non-governmental organization that seeks to prevent unsafe abortions and unwanted pregnancies.

Chilliwack Progress, Nov.27, 2020

Most municipalities no longer begin council sessions with prayer: BC Humanist report

Starting a municipal council meeting with prayer was ruled unconstitutional in a 2015 Supreme Court decision.

Municipalities across the country have had a few years to stop the inclusion of prayer in their meetings and change procedures, according to a new report from the BC Humanist Association, ‘Duty of Neutrality Beyond Saguenay.’

Chilliwack, Langley, and White Rock were among the 23 municipalities found by researchers to have violated the “duty of religious neutrality” in 2018 by beginning their inaugural council meetings with prayers.

InfoNews.ca, November 27, 2020

No prayer? Some Okanagan councils chastised for violating 'duty of religious neutrality'

Several municipalities in the Okanagan have broken religious neutrality laws by holding prayers during their inaugural council meetings. The City of Armstrong, the District of Peachland and the Township of Spallumcheen were all found to have violated the Canadian constitution by beginning with a prayer at their inaugural council meetings in 2018.
 

Of the 162 municipalities in the province, 23 were found to have delivered prayers during inaugural council meetings, according to a recent report by the B.C. Humanist Association.

Saanich News, Nov. 26, 2020

Christian-based prayer at inaugural Vancouver Island council meetings violates court ruling

The BC Humanist Association, a self-defined voice for atheists, agnostics and the non-religious of B.C., released a report Tuesday that found 23 out of 162 B.C. municipalities had included prayer during their 2018 inaugural meetings. That prayer is in violation of the 2015 Supreme Court of Canada’s Saguenay ruling and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees “freedom of conscience and religion.”

CBC Radio, Nov. 25, 2020

Daybreak South with Chris Walker

The B.C. Humanist Association has identified 23 municipalities that opened their inaugural council meetings with prayer - a practice in volition of a ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada in 2015.

Salmon Arm Observer, Nov. 24, 2020

Prayer at North Okanagan council meetings a violation of religious neutrality: study

Armstrong and Spallumcheen are among a number of B.C. municipalities found by an atheist organization to be in violation of religious neutrality laws because they held prayer sessions at past inaugural council meetings.

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According to a report by the BC Humanist Association (BCHA) released Tuesday, Nov. 24, 23 municipalities in the province began their 2018 inaugural council meetings with prayers, all of which were delivered by members of the Christian clergy.

BCHA, November 24, 2020

The Duty of Neutrality Beyond Saguenay: Unconstitutional Prayers at Municipal Councils in British Columbia

This study investigates the practice of beginning municipal council meetings in British Columbia with a prayer, after this practice was found to be unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in Saguenay (2015). Despite the court’s ruling, we found 23 BC municipalities that 23 BC municipalities continued to begin their inaugural council meetings with a prayer, while none do so in regular council meetings. Additionally, it was found that all the prayers were delivered by members of Christian clergy, and delivered mostly by men (73.9%).

Friendly Atheist, Nov. 25, 2020

Many British Columbia Municipalities Open Meetings with Prayer, Breaking the Law

In fact, according to a report released yesterday by the British Columbia Humanist Association, 23 cities across that one province alone still included prayers to open their inaugural sessions in 2018. (Choosing a specific date after the Supreme Court ruling gave the group a set point to compare across the board.)
 

Their research found that those prayers were “100% Christian” despite the fact that fewer than half of citizens in the province identify as such. 

The Friendly Atheist, May 25, 2020

BC Humanists Call for Land Acknowledgment to “Decolonize Legislative Prayers”

In an effort to make the standing orders still more inclusive and reflective of the reality of Canadian society, the BCHA has released a new report analyzing representation of British Columbia’s Indigenous people in the Legislature’s traditional prayers.

CFI Canada, May 8, 2020

British Columbia House of Prayers

This talk about the House of Prayers Report was given by co-author Dr. Teale Phelps Bondaroff on May 8, 2020. Among the topics discussed was legislative prayer in Canada, its history and practice across the country, and the details, methodology, findings, and analysis of the study.

News 1130, December 1, 2019

Group applauds shift to daily 'prayers and reflections' in B.C. Legislature

The BC Humanist Association has been campaigning for years to have "prayer" removed from the parliamentary procedures.

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MLA's voted unanimously to change the Standing Orders to replace the opening "prayer" with "prayers and reflections."

Globe and Mail, Nov. 29, 2019

B.C. Legislature changes rules to allow secular ‘reflections’ to open proceedings

British Columbia’s Legislature has changed its rules to formally allow “reflections” to open proceedings each day, in addition to prayer, amid a debate about the place of religion in Canadian assemblies....

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The formal change follows criticism from organizations such as the B.C. Humanist Association, that the practice of legislative prayer “discriminates against non-believers and violates the state’s duty of religious neutrality.”