ENRICHING THE RITUAL

June 13, 2008

Legislature keeps Lord's Prayer, adds prayers reflecting Judaism, Islam, aboriginal faiths, Sikhism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Baha'i.

Ontario's governing Liberals tried to say "Amen'' yesterday to a thorny proposal to replace the Lord's Prayer in the legislature, opting instead to make time for an additional ritual that would better reflect the province's diverse cultural and religious landscape.

Critics called the move a calculated retreat in the face of massive public outcry to preserve a decades-old tradition. But in averting a controversy, the government may have created a new debate over which additional faiths would pass muster.

Starting Monday, the daily reading of the Lord's Prayer will be followed by a second activity that could include a prayer, recitation or moment of silence.

Speaker Steve Peters will choose from a rotating list which includes prayers reflecting aboriginal, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, Jewish, Baha'i and Sikh faiths.

Members must ask the Speaker to have other prayers added to the list, but Peters said he will hand off any requests to a standing committee -- putting the decision back in the hands of elected politicians from all three parties.

Premier Dalton McGuinty, who said even his Catholic mother was angered when he raised the idea of doing away with the Lord's Prayer earlier, didn't attend the vote on the motion to preserve the prayer, which passed unanimously.

He'd give her the good news, but his mother isn't taking his calls, McGuinty joked yesterday after making a speech at a student symposium in Toronto.

"I assume responsibility for initiating this at the outset,'' he said. "I just thought it was really important. Something I've asked myself for a long time, as a backbencher and then as a premier, (was), 'Why can't we have a prayer that more appropriately reflects who we are?' So I'm proud of this change.''

Rev. James Brown, president of the K-W Council of Churches, said he was pleased with the decision that could lead to acknowledging the faiths of other Ontario residents.

"It's a move to inclusivity which I applaud," said Brown, pastor of Christ Lutheran Church in Waterloo. "It's not a move away from spirituality, which tends to be the normal resolution of questions like this."

But Kathy Meidell, Executive Director of the Humanist Association of Canada, was disappointed the government won't be removing the prayer.

"We're talking about secular proceedings, said Meidell. "Prayer is not appropriate in a government setting."

Not all faith groups can be represented with prayers, and there are many people who have no religious faith at all, added Meidell.

Instead of including more prayers to be said alongside the Lord's Prayer, Meidell said she prefers that the legislature institute a minute of silence.

"It's the fairest approach for everybody," she said.

An all-party committee had to sift through more than 25,000 petitions from the public on the issue, with the vast majority opposing any move to replace the Lord's Prayer.

"We've not only modernized the ritual of the legislature but we've also, I think, allowed for Ontario and Canadian politics to reflect a unique identity,'' Liberal House leader Michael Bryant said in the legislature.

Opposition parties praised the compromise as preserving the province's political traditions and history, while also embracing diverse faiths and cultures.

But the issue could prove to be a "real hot potato,'' said Conservative MP Bob Runciman.

"It's going to be problematic, there's no doubt about that, in how you determine what's appropriate, what's not appropriate,'' he said.

Ontario is one of the few remaining provinces -- along with Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick -- where the prayer is still recited at the start of the legislative day. Both the House of Commons and the Senate recite non-denominational prayers.

- Maria Babbage, The Canadian Press