Canadian Court Upholds City Council Invocations

Canadian Press reports that the Quebec Court of Appeal has upheld the practice of opening city council meetings of the municipality of Saguenay with a non-denominational prayer. The court concluded that the city was not imposing religious views on its citizens, saying that residents were free to leave the meeting during the prayer. In 2011, Quebec's human rights tribunal had ordered an end to the prayers and also had ordered removal of a crucifix that was in city council chambers.  The court, while upholding the prayer, expressed concern over Christian religious symbols in city council chambers, as well as over the attitude of Saguenay's mayor Alain Simoneau who had said that he was pressing the case because he loved Christ and wanted to be able to tell him "I fought for you." The full text of Saguenay v. Mouvement Laique Quebecois (Que. Ct. App., May 27, 2013) is available online in French.