The BC Humanist Association (BCHA) says it intends to take legal action against the City of Parksville for a breach of religious neutrality.
Parksville council鈥檚 inaugural meeting in November 2022 included an 鈥渆xplicitly Christian鈥� prayer by pastor Andrew Gulevich of the Parksville Fellowship Baptist Church, a BCHA news release noted.
The BCHA wrote to Parksville following the 2022 municipal elections, as well as before it prepared its 2020 report on prayers in municipal governments. Parksville鈥檚 2018 inaugural council meeting also began with a Christian prayer.
On April 11, the BCHA鈥檚 legal counsel sent a letter to the city stating it was prepared to 鈥渃ommence legal proceedings seeking all available relief and costs against the City of Parksville without further notice.鈥�
BCHA has received no reply from the city as of April 23, according to Ian Bushfield, executive director.
Legal proceedings are not yet filed, but 鈥渨e鈥檙e writing them up right now, basically,鈥� Bushfield said.
Parksville will be the first municipality to have legal proceedings brought against it by the BCHA over prayer in a council meeting, according to Bushfield.
鈥淲e鈥檙e looking at municipalities across all of British Columbia and we鈥檝e gotten responses from five of the seven that we鈥檝e identified, that is including the prayer in 2022, and the other one we鈥檙e still looking at is Vancouver,鈥� he added.
The City of Parksville did not comment as the matter has been referred to its lawyers.
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Bushfield would not say exactly what BCHA will be seeking in court as the files are still being completed.
鈥淲hat we鈥檙e basically looking for is a commitment that Parksville keeps its future meetings secular,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e recognize every councillor and mayor has their own set of beliefs and we鈥檙e not trying to malign or say that those are invalid. People can hold their beliefs and pray in their private time but it鈥檚 the formal inclusion of prayer at the start of a meeting excludes the non-religious and that鈥檚 the problem that we鈥檙e focused on.鈥�
