Humanist group 'vindicated' with admission that Vancouver council prayer breached neutrality

The B.C. Humanist Association has withdrawn a legal threat against the City of Vancouver over the inclusion of prayers at Mayor Ken Sim's inaugural council meeting.

The association stood down after receiving a letter from a city lawyer acknowledging the prayers – which took place during Sim's inauguration ceremony in November 2022 – breached the state's duty to uphold religious neutrality.

Ian Bushfield, executive director of the BCHA, said members were "vindicated" by the city's admission.

"The City of Vancouver recognized the issue we and others had with the prayers delivered at its inaugural meeting," Bushfield said in a statement Monday.

"We will continue to work to ensure all our public institutions are secular and inclusive."

A 2015 decision from the Supreme Court of Canada found opening council meetings with prayers to be unconstitutional, and the BCHA has been auditing compliance with the ruling for the past several years.

"It is important that everyone feels welcome at municipal council meetings," Dr. Teale Phelps Bondaroff of the BCHA said in a news release. "When a municipality opens a meeting with prayer, it elevates some religions over others and sends the message that religion is more important than non-religion."

The association previously asked Vancouver staff for a commitment to stop allowing prayers at council, but was initially told the plans for inauguration ceremonies are decided by the incoming mayor.

The city has since promised that Vancouver will comply with its constitutional obligations, according to the BCHA.

Prior to the 2022 meeting, the last time prayers were included in an inaugural Vancouver council meeting was when Sam Sullivan was sworn in as mayor in 2006.

CTV News has reached out to the city for a response to the association's decision to withdraw its legal threat.

Meanwhile, another B.C. community is still facing a possible lawsuit for allowing prayers at council.

Parksville, a Vancouver Island city with a population of around 12,000 people, included a Christian prayer at its 2022 inaugural council meeting as well.

The BCHA said it had asked Parksville officials to "observe the law" with respect to religious neutrality three times since the inauguration but has not received an adequate response.

Bushfield told CTV News the association was still "seeking further clarification" from the city as of Tuesday, and continuing to prepare legal filings.