Content Warning: This is a political op-ed! Seriously - you might want to stop reading.
According to the 2021 Canadian Census, Christianity remains the dominant religion in the land, with 19,373,330 Canadians, or 53.3% identifying themselves as such. By comparison, less than five per cent identified as Muslim, the second most commonly reported religion in Canada, and 34.6 per cent identified as having no religious affiliation. For those identifying as Christian, this might be comforting, but the numbers mean little to Canadians in general and even less to politicians, school-board trustees, and human rights tribunals who often appear tone-deaf, even adversarial to Christian values seen to be conflicting with mainstream culture or bias.
Canada’s Earliest Beginnings
The two predominant countries to settle Canada were France and England. A French colony within the larger territory of ‘New France,’ it was claimed in 1535 during the second voyage of Jacques Cartier and remained a French territory until 1763 when the Treaty of Paris ended the Anglo-French war and New France was ceded to the British Crown. This marked a crucial turning point in Canadian history. Most flag-waving Canuks will know that Canada would remain part of the British Empire until 1867. 1
France was deeply Roman Catholic. Travel the shores of the St. Laurence River in the Eastern Province of Quebec and it is easy to see the influence of French ‘missionaries’ like the Recollets, Jesuits and Ursuline nuns. With church spires towering high above their town flocks beneath, the province’s toponymy bears the marks of its past esteem for Quebec’s Catholic heritage.
The St Lawrence River is named for the martyr
St Lawrence of Rome – one of 7 deacons of Rome
under Pope Sixtus. Tied to an iron grate
and roasted alive, he protested: “You have me
well done on one side, turn me over.”
While Britain today has a more mixed, pluralistic present, Christianity (Roman Catholicism) had been the dominant religion in Britain from the 6th century through to the Reformation period in the Middle Ages. As a part of the wider European Reformation, the English Reformation Parliament (1529–1536) broke with Rome, abolished papal authority in England and in 1534 the Church of England (Anglican) became the nation’s independent, national church.
My point here is that Canada was settled by Christian nations, from its inception its foundation was Christian and for much of its history it has been Christian; not in the sense that everyone professed faith, but in the sense that a general ‘Christian’ worldview undergirded its legal and political systems from the time it was first occupied by Europeans until 1982.
The Lord’s Day Act
For further ‘proof’ of Canada’s Christian foundation, we need look no further than the “Lord’s Day Act” of 1906With Canada being the offspring of Britain, we should not be surprised that Britain’s Sunday Observance Act (1677) became the model for a similar piece of legislative landscape here in 1845 – “An Act to prevent the Profanation of the Lord’s Day, commonly called Sunday, in Upper Canada.” As Weinrib notes,
“Before the Charter, [emphasis mine] the Canadian political system constructed a hierarchical social structure, which entrenched an informal establishment of religion and constructed social life on faith-based mores.” (Weinrib, Lorraine E. “Ontario’s Sharia Law Debate: Law and Politics Under the Charter” in Law and Religious Pluralism in Canada. Edited by Richard Moon. Vancouver: UBC Press 2008, 259).
The Lord’s Day Act of 1906 guaranteed one day
off each week. Sadly, this did not mean you
could have fun on that day.
In 1906 Prime Minister Wilfred Laurier’s government introduced to the House of Commons a bill officially called the “Lord’s Day Act” intended to restrict certain commercial activities and forms of leisure on Sundays. In the debates that followed (Railroads and Quebec opposed it), Members of Parliament and Senators rose multiple times to voice their support:
“I have no desire whatever to trample upon the conscientious convictions of any other individual, or any other province, but we must not forget that we claim to be a Christian nation, we are a Christian-professing nation at least, and as such, we should respect the laws of God.” (Liberal Senator James McMullen, July 9, 1906). 2
“As the Minister of Justice declared, Christianity is the religion of Canada and the fabric of Canadian nationhood is buttressed by Christian institutions ...” (Conservative Senator James A. Lougheed, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, July 11, 1906). 3
In July, 1906 the bill passed, but not surprisingly, the issue of legal / illegal Sunday activities would confuse and frustrate Canadians for decades to come. Reflecting an increasingly secular society, perhaps Vancouver lawyer James J. Sutherland best illustrated the publics frustration in a 1954 radio debate:
“... one of the freedoms we obtained over the centuries with blood and sweat was the privilege of going to hell in ways of our own choosing.”
A New Public Religion: The Charter of Rights and Freedoms
In 1965 Pierre Elliot Trudeau was elected to Parliament and in ’67 he was appointed Minister of Justice. Reflecting his ideological biases and arguing that “no Canadian has the benefit of a constitutional protection as exists in dozens of other countries,” he pushed for entrenched rights. His first draft proposal, published by the Federal government was ‘A Canadian Charter of Human Rights,’ a document that would later morph into Trudeau’s ‘The Charter of Rights and Freedoms’ [herein ‘The Charter’].
On the surface, this all sounds rather grand and wonderful! But what is most notable here is that, as early as 1968, Trudeau acknowledged that ‘The Charter’ would move power from the legislature to the courts — not a good omen for the future.
“An entrenched bill of rights would offer this constitutional protection, although at the price of some restriction on the theory of legislative supremacy. It is suggested that this is not too high a price to pay” [emphasis mine]. (Trudeau, P.E. A Canadian Charter of Human Rights. 1968. 11)
On April 17, 1982, during Trudeau’s season as Canada’s 15th Prime Minister (1968 to 1979; 1980 to 1984), he met with Queen Elizabeth II, and patriated the British North America Act, 1867 from the United Kingdom, ending Canadian dependence on the Parliament of Westminster and allowing Canada to achieve full sovereignty. At the same time, ‘The Charter’ of Rights was also adopted – and when it was, not-surprisingly, it empowered the courts [appointed officials] with the responsibility of making important public policy-making decisions – not elected officials in the legislature!
OK - so Canada is a secular society. Still, its’ not
as if secularism has cured religious intolerance
or discrimination – that is for sure, as we
watch antisemitism play out on our
streets and university campuses.
As far back as 1969, when Trudeau proposed such a ‘Charter,’ there was deep concern.
“Once we penetrate the rhetoric of Bill of Rights talk we can see that the practical question to ask of its merits is not whether we want those particular rights and freedoms guaranteed, but whether we want our judges to take on a primary policy-making role over a particular range of issues.” (Russell, Peter H. “Mr Trudeau’s Bill of Rights: Disadvantages.” The Canadian Forum. 1969. March 274-276).
Testifying about a ‘Charter’ before a Special Joint Committee of the Senate and of the House of Commons on the Constitution of Canada, law professor D. A. Schmeiser, from the University of Saskatchewan argued:
“... decisions of the courts dealing with fundamental rights are inherently political decisions, not legal decisions and judges are not as competent as Parliamentarians to make such decisions .... policy decisions should be made by legislatures because of their superior powers with respect to fact finding, awareness of public opinion, formulation of national goals, compromise, timing, and economic resources .... There is no historical or democratic warrant for judges to act as super-legislators or as philosopher kings .... the Canadian people should not relinquish part of their sovereignty to the potential despotism of the judiciary.” (Minutes, 1970a, Issue No. 49, Tuesday, February 23, 8-9)
Hmmm! “... the political despotism of the judiciary.” In my view, this is precisely what ‘The Charter’ has brought, especially on people of faith. Former Prime Minister Pierre handed unelected judicial officials the agenda [‘The Charter’] to implement as they saw fit. They have ... and they are ... and today secularism and social liberalism have become the nationalized religion – guaranteeing that freedom from religion (not freedom of religion), would monopolize the public square. Christianity would have no privileged place in the land. This is our history! The criminalization of Christianity in Canada had begun.
‘The Charter’ fundamentally changed Canada’s constitutional and legal foundation, dismantling a faith-based world view for a secular / humanistic one; effectively turning its back on its Christian past.
Post ‘Charter’ Effects
With the acceptance of ‘the Charter,’ (1982), provinces were given three years to amend their documents and in 1985 ‘the Charter’ came into effect. What followed was to be expected: challenges to social and political issues, before non-elected, unaccountable judges. “It’s a violation of my Charter of Rights and Freedoms,” became the hymn secularists, activists, ideologues and other litigants started singing in their church. It did not take long for the judges to strike down the ‘Lord’s Day Act’ April 24, 1985 [R v Big M Drug Mart Ltd] on the grounds that it contravened ‘the Charter’ (Section 15). Other decisions quickly followed: Zylberberg et al. v. Sudbury Board of Education, 1988; Elgin County (Canadian Civil Liberties Association v. Ontario [Minister of Education], 1990) ... and Halpern v Canada (AG) 2003, that piece of scandalous legal fiction where it was determined that the common law definition of marriage, defined as between one man and one woman, violated ‘The Charter.’ Same-sex marriages were subsequently legalized July 20, 2005.
Yes, but the Preamble to ‘the Charter’ says “supremacy of God.” So? First – whose God have you in mind – Brahma ... Allah ... Amaterasu ... or the Christian God? Second, in “R v Sharpe” (BC, 1999), and in response to that phrase “supremacy of God,” the judge ruled it to be “a dead letter.” In other words, of no effect in interpreting ‘the Charter’.
Because there is no such thing as ‘neutrality’ in political matters, secularism is hardly a neutral mediator. With its own religious perspective – it merely substitutes Christianity’s for its own Temple.
OK, so where am I going with all of this? Well ...
(1) I understand Canada is NOT a ‘Christian’ nation.’ I am NOT trying to turn it into one.
(2) I DO expect that every level of the Federal government treats its citizens in a fair and equitable manner – including those who self-identify as Christian.
I expect to be able to exercise fundamental freedoms like the freedom to think my own thoughts, speak my mind, travel within / outside of Canada, gather in peaceful protest and ... express my point of view. BTW - Have you seen the leaked document sent to our Canadian soldiers in fall of 2024 asking, “In the past 2-5 years have you ... purchased an extremist group merchandise (e.g. Make Canada Great Again hat)? “Increasingly, I am of the mind that my Christian beliefs and values – are viewed by the government as problematic, for as the Federal Department of Justice reminds its citizens ...
“There may be limits on how you express your religious beliefs if your way of doing so would infringe on the rights of others or undermine complex public programs and policies.” https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/csj-sjc/rfc-dlc/ccrf-ccdl/rfcp-cdlp.html
I do not expect a government that is incapable of moral clarity as it actively practices anti-Christian bigotry ... to be deliberately selective in how and when it reacts to religious groups being attacked ... or paint Canadian Christians as ‘American-style ideologues.’ The criminalization of Christianity in Canada started with Pierre’s ‘Charter’ and his legacy continues today through his son. Consider:
The near total dechristianization of Canada is an observable and factual reality. This process is
happening day by day, minute by minute.
What a great opportunity for Christians.
# 1. In this last four-year period, Canadians have witnessed a hate-fueled wave of over 112 Christian churches vandalized, 33 of them torched and lost [592 in last 12 years] The response to this crisis by our Prime Minister was to call them “unacceptable” but “fully understandable given the shameful history that we are all becoming more and more aware of” [July, 2021]. Imagine. Burning churches is “understandable”! Forgive me for wondering out loud, but if the target were mosques or synagogues, would the PM have said the same? 4
If you are secretly thinking, this is all imagined, we should remind ourselves that on January 26, 2023, after 68 churches had already been vandalized, the Prime Minister made an important announcement. On that day he announced the appointment of Amira Elghawaby as Canada’s first Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia. Really? So, in the midst of Christian communities being victimized ... our national leader stands in the public square and announces ...
“The Government of Canada stands with and supports Muslim communities across Canada and reaffirms its commitment to take action to denounce and tackle Islamophobia, hate-fueled [sic] violence, and systemic discrimination whenever and wherever it occurs.”5
When the number reached 83, the Liberals and NDP at the Indigenous and Northern Affairs Committee shut down a motion (October 24, 2023) to condemn church burning across Canada, especially those in Indigenous communities. Wow! Let us all sing that familiar hymn: “What a Friend We Have in ... Liberals.” Not!
THIS ... is the kind of selective bigotry towards Christians that Trudeau the Younger practices.
# 2. Remember the PM’s Canada Summer Jobs Grants Program of 2018? A Federal program funding some 70,000 placements for students. it compelled all applicants to agree to “women's rights and women's reproductive rights” No agreeing check mark = no moolah! Pro-Choice = no moolah!
Christians should not have to conform to an
ideological purity test or limit their values
because they do not align with those of our
Prime Minister ... a PM who feigns
“diversity and inclusion.”
While I acknowledge that the Federal net was made sufficient large enough to sweep in any Canadian religious group fundamentally opposed to abortion – our current Prime Minister was quite aware that conservative, Evangelical and Catholic organizations would bristle at being compelled to agree to a statement that betrays their conscience. Listen to the Federal Minister:
“In terms of church groups that are concerned that this may invalidate them from funding, in fact, my perspective is that it won’t, as long as their core mandate agrees with those hard won rights and freedoms that Canadians expect us to stand up for.”
Employment Minister Patty Hajdu, Cabinet Retreat, London Ontario, 2018
So our Liberal Prime Minister gets to impose his values on groups that disapprove of his ethical standards – with penalties attached for nonconformity ... yet he is frequently found in breach of our Federal Parliaments ethics rules himself. [Think Aga Khan and Private Island Bahama (2016); SNC-Lavalin scandal (2019)] ... with no consequences attached. The Christian community does not need our PM to lecture us about values and what is right or wrong. 6
I do not expect the government to nurture Christian expression, but under the current regime,
it seems clear that it does not
respond with benign neutrality either!
# 3. When you have nothing else to do, visit the following Federal Government website - https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/important-commemorative-days.html Filed under the Canadian Heritage Services – we have here a virtual potpourri of “Important and Commemorative Days”. Among the 66 listed are ...
January 29 National Day of Remembrance of the Quebec City Mosque Attack and Action Against Islamophobia
2nd Wednesday of April International Day of Pink
May 17 International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia
3rd Week of August Public Service Pride Week
4th Week of September Gender Equality Week
November 20 Transgender Day of Remembrance
November 25-December 10 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence
Does our secularist Federal government look particularly fixated here? Not sure? Look again! Canadians celebrate pride from June to September – or even longer, unlike our southern cousins who do so typically in June.
Canada’s Quebec Premier François Legault says he intends to ban praying in public and would consider using the notwithstanding clause to do so
(CBC, December 6, 2024).
There is a Canadian Islamic History Month in October. Wonderful! Let’s celebrate! There is also a Hindu and Lebanese Heritage month in November. Great! Let’s enjoy some Kulfi and Mujaddara. How about the month of December? Looking for Christianity? Actually, there is ‘Nothing’ in December. In French we would say ‘Rien!’ Want it in Swahili? It’s ‘Hakuna kito.’ When picking ‘winners’ and ‘losers’ – the Feds have concluded that Christians are losers.; they do not deserve a month, so there is not one.
Is it too much to expect that there be a Canadian Christian History Month in December ... or a Christian Heritage month in April ... or how about just15 minutes every February 29th – to remind all Canadians of the founding Christian faith that helped lay the foundations of our once great nation? 7 Instead, our government seems committed to erasing its Christian roots. Yah, I know – as a good little Christian I am supposed to say nothing and get in step.
The power of our government seems tipped
in a direction that advances the work of ‘every
other’ religious group. Plenty of religious
tolerance – just not towards Christianity!
# 4. Anyone remember the discussion paper published by the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) in October 2023? It certainly caused a stir in the House of Commons, especially that part that called the statutory holidays linked to Christianity (Christmas, Easter) an “obvious example” of “systemic religious discrimination.” Christmas is racist? Interesting!
Given this kind of nonsense by an unelected, frequently discriminatory body and its tribunal’s quasi-judicial rules that short-circuit balances, by CHRC standards I suppose we should ... 8
Strike out the preamble to the 1960 Canadian Bill of Rights, introduced by our 13th Prime Minister, John Diefenbaker. It begins “The Parliament of Canada, affirming that the Canadian Nation is founded upon principles that acknowledge the supremacy of God.”
Chisel out the engravings on the Peace Tower of our Parliament Building in Ottawa:
South Arch ... Psalm 72:1 KJV “Give the King thy judgments O God and thy righteousness unto the King's son.”
East Arch ... Psalms 72:8 KJV “He (God) shall have dominion (politics) from sea to sea.”
West Arch ... Proverbs 29:18 KJV “Where there is no vision, the people perish.”
Fabricate a new Order of Canada, one that removes from the six-petaled snowflake, the Latin inscription taken from Hebrews 11:16 “they desire a better country.”
Like the dystopian 1884 Orwellian novel, where truth and facts are displaced for ‘feelings,’ the cult of personality, Newspeak and ‘The Ministry of Truth’ – the actions of our current Prime Minister seem committed to duplicating this chilling prophesy during his reign. In my view, the PM sees all things ‘Christian’ as an existential threat to his lordship! In Trudeau’s world, to be Christian is to be un-Canadian! In Trudeau’s world everything not left of center – is far-right and the police, professional bodies and Human Rights Tribunals (aka mafia-styled shake-down courts) are to be subjectively wielded against it.
The criminalization of Christianity is here to stay!
Star Date 42761.3 “We are the Borg.
You will be assimilated. Your culture will adapt
to service us. Resistance is futile”
Star Trek: The Next Generation. Season 2. Episode 16 Production Number 142. May 8, 1989 “Q Who”.
I get it that conservative Christians represent an obstacle for political elites and their legacy media supporters ... and that the way around it is to portray them as mean, small minded people – opposed to Canadian values. To illustrate – while fighting off over 24 disaffected MP’s unhappy with his Liberal leadership (October 24, 2024), Trudeau pivoted to criticizing Conservative MP Jeremy Patzer, for appearing at (... here it comes) an "extreme, right-wing anti-abortion church" in Florida last year. This is how the Prime Minister, soon Former, sees Christians. That is not going to change
I get it that Canadian politicians have a proclivity for avoiding public association with Evangelicals, while overtly fawning over other religious traditions like Muslims, Sikhs, and Hindu’s– showing up to smile in a mosque, glad-handing in a Gurdwaras, seeking voters in a temple. That is not going to change either.
While other foreign religions are treated as an example of this nation’s robust multi-culturalism – Canada’s Christians are treated as card-carrying leper-colony members. This is bigotry!
Our Prime Minister shares an increasingly common worldview – that Christianity is a malevolent force in the Dominion of Canada and it needs to be repudiated at every opportunity. Our trajectory as a country is currently downward. And though the sand is now sliding out of the Trudeau’s government hourglass, his tribe, and tribes like his that have a jaundiced view of Christians, will nevertheless continue to grow.
Frankly, I hardly recognize my country these days – with its declining values ... freedoms ... social structures ... quality of life ... radical immigration ... deteriorating living standards [25% of Canadians live in poverty says Food Banks Canada] and diminishing influence on the world stage. The Canadian left, under Trudeau, has been horribly abusing its power these last number of years and utterly demonizing those who disagree with them. So much for the PM’s “Positive Politics” he pushed on October 19, 2015. 9 The Canadian experiment is facing stress and I doubt a hundred years from now it will survive fracturing. Yes, “It’s a cold take.”
I am not lamenting the rise of a hard-core pluralist ideology or the fall of Christianity from its former place of privilege. Not for a moment! As some point it was destined to happen – as believers rooted in Scripture would know. Happily, God’s Kingdom is not in doubt and ‘God-free’ zones hardly trouble him. Nevertheless, it does testify to the need for continuing Christian resilience, mental toughness and acute spiritual discernment in the face of this stiff secularist breeze.
If anything, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is as much the protector of the Church of Atheism and Agnosticism as it is the
Church of ‘sexual orientation.’
‘Autumn,’ then ‘Winter’ for Christ-followers is going to manifest itself at some point, depending on how short or long Jesus’ return might be (Matthew 24) ... and assuming Jesus was not pretending when he said “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake” (Matthew 24:9). The deification of the state over its Christian citizens ... Christian churches ... and Christian organizations will continue. We should simply be aware of the threats to our religious liberty, be resilient, speak truth in the public square and defend the Gospel as occasions permit or even require.
This I know ... Our country’s greatness; our country’s national character – comes from standing on the shoulders of and in the ‘God-fearing’ 1867 persuasion of our Fathers of Confederation who were devoted to ‘the supremacy of God’ – whether our current leader has a mind to believe it or not. “OnlySaying ...”
1 I am indebted to Michael Wagner’s fine work, “Leaving God Behind.” Christian Governance, Russell, ON, 2012.
2 Debates of the Senate of the Dominion of Canada. 1906, Second Session - Tenth Parliament. 1130-1131.
3 Debates, 1906. 1215.
4 The ‘Kamloops 215’ mass graves mania was the precipitating cause for many of the church burnings. The left-Liberal Woke government were apoplectic and ordered Canadian flags to be flown half-mast on Federal buildings to honor the “215 children whose lives were taken ...” T’kemlups Chief Casimir, at the 2021 general meeting of the Assembly of First Nations even successfully moved a motion referring to these 215 as a “mass grave.” Yet to date, no factual evidence (human remains) has been produced to dispel the false and highly charged genocide narrative that there are mass graves in Canada. Why not? We cannot have Reconciliation ... without Truth. Want to be enlightened? Read Professor Frances Widdowson’s insightful book, ‘Disrobing the Aboriginal Industry: The Deception Behind Indigenous Cultural Preservation.’ 2008.
6 Federal Liberals have since re-tooled the 2019 version of the Canada Summer Jobs program. Applicants now must attest: “I confirm that neither the job activities nor any of the activities of my organization which are directly or indirectly supported by the job activities in any way infringe, undermine, weaken, or restrict the exercise of human rights legally protected in Canada.” A fine piece of word-smithing, I must say.
7 This past November 3, 2024 Mississauga’s City Council surprisingly declared December Christian Heritage Month. In its motion, it rightfully noted “Christians have made valuable contributions to the cultural, social, religious, and humanitarian fabric of our City and have played an important role in shaping our diverse community.” This started a landslide among Canadian municipalities and currently 35 have got on board.
8 The CHRC is a broken, biased enterprise, providing few legal safeguards if a respondent is charged by a complainant. Even the Federal government found that the CHRC discriminated against its own employees (CBC - June 21, 2024). Go figure! The power this out-of-control kangaroo court exercises over Canadians is frightening. Read for yourself https://arpacanada.ca/articles/the-problems/ https://www.christianpost.com/news/mayors-bank-account-garnished-after-refusing-lgbt-proclamation.html
9 In 2019, 19% of Canadians felt that Canada was extremely unequal; today it is 38%.
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