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"Neither the wrath of his Catholic mother nor the thousands of e-mails and petitions from the public prove Ontario should cling to the tradition of opening the daily proceedings of the legislature with the Lord's Prayer, Premier Dalton McGuinty said Tuesday," The Canadian Press reported in its article McGuinty holds firm in face of outcry over prayer
"It's the government's job to lead and ensure the daily reading at the legislature reflects the diversity of Ontario," Mr. McGuinty added, according to the CP report.
"It's been said that our job is to represent the future to the present," the premier added. "We continue to change as province, as a society in terms of our make-up and our cultures and our faiths.
"We've got a responsibility to ensure that all people feel truly at home here."
An all-party committee is now studying the fate of the Lord's Prayer, sorting through 5,700 e-mails sent by the public so far — which temporarily crashed the legislature's website — and hearing from at least 50 faith groups in person.
"In some places, they've eliminated all form of prayer entirely and replaced it with something that is seen to be broadly acceptable to everybody," said Mr. McGuinty, adding other legislatures just have a moment of silence.
The last time the Ontario legislature updated its daily prayer was in 1969, when it changed the preamble to the Lord's Prayer. It is one of the few remaining provinces — along with Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick — still reciting the Lord's Prayer.
Both the House of Commons and the Senate recite non-denominational prayers. Quebec's National Assembly has only a daily moment of reflection.
As Mr. McGuinty said, many jurisdictions are struggling to find a balance between the historic intertwining of religion and politics — especially in areas where a majority of the first European settlers and immigrants came to North America for the freedom to practise their different versions of the Christian faith — and the increasingly multicultural nature of Canada.
It's a fascinating debate with wide-ranging implications.
That's why globeandmail.com has invited our semi-regular panel from several major faith-based communities and a representative of the atheist/humanist/free thinker groups to debate these questions:
Given Canada's history of intertwined politics and religion, and given Canada's increasing multicultural nature, what does your faith/creed/religion/organization now say about the role, if any, of faith in today's political process?
What do you think of the Ontario proposal?
As usual, the panelists each have written a short essay and have answered questions from our readers. You can read the entire exchange at the bottom of this page.
The members of our panel are:
Michael W. Higgins is President of St. Thomas University in Fredericton and past president of St. Jerome's University in the University of Waterloo.
Dr. Higgins is a broadcaster, author and co-author of numerous books and CBC Ideas series, including Heretic Blood, The Muted Voice, Power and Peril and Stalking the Holy.
Lorna Dueck, an Evangelical Christian journalist, writes a monthly column for The Globe. Her latest: What Rev. Wright did wrong
She is also executive producer of Listen Up TV, a weekly newsmagazine on spiritual perspectives in current events, seen Sundays on Global TV, and Thursdays on CTS, Salt and Light TV and Christian Channel.
Rabbi Ed Elkin has been the spiritual leader of the First Narayever Congregation in downtown Toronto since 2000.
Born in New York, he graduated from Princeton University and has worked or studied in Canada, the United States and Israel.
Sheema Khan also writes a monthly column for The Globe. She has a Masters degree in physics and a Ph.D. in chemical physics from Harvard. She has worked in R&D, is an inventor and has worked at law firms in intellectual property law.
Ms. Khan also served as chair of the Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CAN) from 2000-2005.
Justin Trottier is executive director of the Centre for Inquiry Ontario, making him the first full-time paid staff member at the first venue dedicated to humanists and freethinkers in Canada.
He is co-founder of the political advocacy group Canadian Secular Alliance, as well as president of the multimedia outreach group Freethought Association of Canada.
