Edmonton councillors vote to end reflective moment

Five council members shot down a plan for a non-religious, non-political moment of reflection before council meetings Tuesday.

The two-minute moment of reflection would have replaced the multi-faith prayer that council cut last year, after the Supreme Court of Canada ruled prayer in council meetings was unconstitutional. The city clerk’s office pitched this new plan, after a series of meeting with local religious, business and arts leaders.

But councillors thought the new plan lacked substance.

“I felt like it watered it down to be meaningless, and it wasn’t meaningless to me before,” said Coun. Bev Esslinger.

“We used to have Christian prayers, then we went to multifaith prayers. Now it would be diversity and inclusion, but ... nonreligious,” she said. “Well, it’s hard to be inclusive and diverse and to be non-religious in our community. For many people, culture and faith are very mixed.”

Beth Sanders, who did the consultation for the city, said religious leaders were convinced they could still participate by being spiritual without being religious. Leaders in the arts, business and from First Nations communities also thought a moment of reflection was good practice to start a meeting, giving time to break from the busyness of life and focus on the task at hand.

The bi-weekly moments would have been a chance for ordinary citizens to see themselves reflected at city hall, Sanders said. They could be poems, a piece of art, an interpretive dance or simply a short story about what it means to belong here.

The issue still goes for a vote at full council Oct. 11.

Coun. Michael Oshry moved to end the moment of reflection after hearing that the city wasn’t sure how much time it would take to co-ordinate. The city clerk said it would be accommodated within the existing budget and would take no more than one person’s time.