BQ fails to quash prayer in House
Daily Commons tradition will continue
The prayer that kicks off the day's proceedings in the House of Commons will stay after the Conservatives and Liberals voted down a Bloc Québécois motion.
The Bloc Québécois motion to remove the daily prayer was defeated by 266 votes, compared to 56 MPS who were in favour. Like other Liberal MPS, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau voted against the motion. NDP leader Jagmeet Singh voted in favour of eliminating the prayer, as did most NDP MPS.
The prayer is read just before the House of Commons opens up to the public and before the cameras turn on, after which the proceedings are televised and streamed online.
The 30-second prayer is non-denominational, read partly in French and partly in English, and is followed by “a moment of silence for private thought and reflection,” according to the House of Commons website.
Following the vote Wednesday afternoon, Bloc leader Yves-françois Blanchet told reporters that the rules mean that MPS have to participate in a prayer to a Western deity, with “a mandate to protect her majesty Queen Elizabeth II.”
“Which is a very important thing for many people, but I would say clearly not for Quebecers,” he said.
The prayer has been a part of House of Commons daily proceedings since 1877. The current version, which was updated in 1994, starts off with the statement: “Almighty God, we give thanks for the great blessings which have been bestowed on Canada and its citizens, including the gifts of freedom, opportunity and peace that we enjoy. We pray for our Sovereign, Queen Elizabeth, and the Governor General.”
Blanchet said Quebecers have been in favour of the separation of church and state since the Quiet Revolution in the 1960s.
The question of secularism has been a more significant political issue in Quebec than in the rest of country since that time. The province's Bill 21, which bans public employees including teachers, police officers and lawyers from wearing religious symbols at work, became law in 2019.
Blanchet said the vote allows Quebecers to conclude that their values are directly opposed to the values of the House of Commons.
During question period, just prior to the vote on the motion, Blanchet asked Trudeau how he was planning to vote.
“I'm very proud to be a Quebecer but I can tell the leader of the Bloc that these days Quebecers are more concerned about the cost of property, the cost of gas and the cost of groceries, about climate change, the illegal war by Putin in Ukraine,” Trudeau responded. “There are all kinds of other concerns that we are dealing with here on this side of the House.”
Blanchet accused the other political parties of saying one thing in Quebec and another in the rest of the country. Trudeau responded by saying the Bloc was desperately trying to find a wedge issue.
“We already have a separation between church and state in Canada. We have respect for all the different religions,” Trudeau said.
Liberal MPS voted down the motion, with the exception of Nathaniel Erskine-smith, who voted in favour, while Liberal MP René Arseneault abstained. Green Party MPS Elizabeth May and Mike Morrice voted with the Bloc to remove the prayer.
Charlie Angus was one of few NDP MPS who voted to keep the prayer, along with Daniel Blaikie.
Singh told reporters earlier in the day that he was in favour of the Bloc motion, and in favour of having a moment where MPS can take time for reflection, whether they are religious, spiritual or not.
He said, speaking in French, that in the Parliamentary context, individuals should be able to express themselves how they like.
“I believe profoundly in the separation of church and state, and this is a specific case where we can remove an element that's opposed to that,” Singh said.