The right-to-pray issue surfaced in 2007 when Alain Simoneau, a Saguenay resident and an atheist, filed a complaint with the Quebec Human Rights Tribunal about elected representatives reciting prayers in council chambers before meetings. Ordered to stop the praying practice, Catholic Mayor Jean Tremblay instead appealed the decision to the Quebec Court of Appeal. The province’s top court ruled in Tremblay’s favour in 2011.
In turn, Simoneau brought the case to the Supreme Court of Canada, which agreed last year to hear it. The Supreme Court decision deals directly with the Saguenay complaint but its ramifications reach across the country. Prayers are off the agenda, or at least removed from the official proceedings.
Digital Columnists
The article you have requested is only available to subscribers of the Catholic Register.
There are two ways to read this article.
1. Subscribe to our digital edition and read the complete newspaper, plus additional features, on your PC, laptop or tablet. Subscription rates start at just $3.99.
2. Subscribe to our weekly newspaper and have the print edition delivered right to you door each week.