Former Ambassador of Religious Freedom Bennett prepares for Canada’s 150th

OTTAWA (CCN)



On Nov. 1, former Ambassador of Religious Freedom Andrew Bennett presented Cardus’s Cabinet of Canadians who will affirm faith’s central role as the country marks its 150th anniversary.

The Cabinet of Canadians is part of the Cardus think tank’s Faith in Canada 150 project to highlight the importance of faith before the 150th anniversary of Confederation next year.

The 40-member Cabinet, which includes Toronto Cardinal Thomas Collins, Evangelical Fellowship of Canada president Bruce Clemenger, Catholic Christian Outreach (CCO) president Jeff Lockert and National Council of Canadian Muslims executive director Ishaan Gardee, will help lead the conversation regionally and nationally on the importance of religious faith in the country’s history as well as in its present.

“There is growing discrimination against people of faith in Canada,” Bennett said in a statement. “We must speak out confidently and uphold this fundamental freedom in the face of growing intolerance of religious belief in our society.”

“Just look at Ontario where doctors could be forced to violate their consciences by referring patients for euthanasia against their deeply-held religious beliefs,” he said.

“This is mirrored in the case of Catholic hospitals that are being pushed to set aside their prohibition on euthanasia, or law societies denying accreditation to Trinity Western University’s proposed law school over dislike of the private evangelical school’s community covenant.”

The Cabinet includes not only religious leaders, but also academics, social entrepreneurs, and business leaders who will act as a “vanguard” for the message that faith matters, he said.

Cardus, a Christian think tank, hopes to convey the importance of religious faith in building this country and in creating her diverse and pluralistic fabric today, Bennett said.

Cabinet co-chairmen are Shachi Kurl, a public policy analysist with the Angus Reid Institute, and Balpreet Singh Boparai, the legal counsel for the World Sikh Organization of Canada.

While about 20 members represent Christian leaders from Catholic, Orthodox, and various Protestant backgrounds, the cabinet includes many other faiths, representing the diversity in the country.

“This is not diversity for diversity’s sake,” said Bennett. Instead, they are trying to “reflect the true face of Canada now,” and “make sure faith is given a prominent place” in the 150th anniversary celebrations.

Bennett, who is a senior fellow at Cardus since leaving his role as ambassador after a reorganization of the office at Global Affairs Canada, said that while Cardus is a Christian think tank drawing on 2,000 years of Christian thought, “we seek to be open to other Canadians. We want to engage.”

“Faith communities need to be confident in their faith,” he said. Too often they have “bought into the post-Enlightenment myth that faith is a private matter” or something that only takes places in churches, mosques, temples and other places of worship.

“This is historically inaccurate,” he said. “Faith is lived out in the public square.”

Though we have been spared the persecution experienced in other countries, “It is still important to be vigilant” in advancing freedom of religion and freedom of conscience, he said. “If we silence ourselves and remove ourselves, we are impoverishing the debate.”

Gardee told CCN in an interview it is important for Muslims to be active and engaged in all spheres of public life. “Muslims have been here since before Confederation,” he said. “In fact, 13 years before Confederation, the first Muslim was born to a Scottish woman named Agnes Love.”

“In Canada we have the opportunity to speak out and to manifest our faith in ways others are prevented from doing in many parts of the world, so it is incumbent upon us to ensure that our voices are heard on issues not simply related to faith but other issues as well such as the environment, the economy, animal rights, you name it,” Gardee said.

Lockert said in an interview he was honored to be invited to be part of the Cabinet, particularly because of his work with Catholic university students and young adults.

“There is a potential for a young Catholic to feel like maybe they should step back from the conversation,” he said. “We think there is always a place for respectful conversation.”