OPEN LETTER TO MIKE HARRIS

TAKING THE LORD'S PRAYER TO COURT IN ONTARIO

Dear Mr. Premier;

Within the dying days of the century, the Ontario Legislature was poised for a court battle to retain the Lord's Prayer as part of the daily opening ceremonies at Queen's Park.

Somehow the inspirational words of the prayer, which are believed to have originated with Jesus Christ Himself, are found to be offensive and worthy of challenges in the legal courts of the land.

As new Speaker of the House, Gary Carr had to respond to a complaint made to the Ontario Human Rights Commission alleging that the prayer is unconstitutional.

The complaint was filed by Henry Freitag of Penetanguishine. Freitag was already successful in having the courts to order the town's council to drop the Lord’s Prayer from its opening ceremonies.

Arguably, there is little decorum to be found anymore at regular town hall meetings. Many councils representing Ontario municipalities have long ago been cowed by the dictates of the politically correct. Members of the council closest to Queen's Park, who run our megacity, are promising in-fighting and a down-and-dirty scene among incumbents, forced to scramble for seats in the city's new downsized 44-ward system. There's nothing too noble about city hall meetings. Even televised Legislature and Parliament debates are easier to watch.

In any event, the Legislature has applied to Ontario Divisional Court to hear the matter of the constitutional challenge of the Lord's Prayer.

Carr said the Legislative assembly will argue that the Human Rights Commission has no jurisdiction because of parliamentary privilege.

"Of course we will have to argue (in court) the question of privilege," Carr told reporters before going into a meeting with the House leaders from the Tories, Liberals and New Democrats to discuss the pending court challenge.

All 103 members of the Legislature were voted in by the public, and the Speaker believes it should be up to those members to determine whether they want to keep the Lord’s Prayer.

"I haven't since I've been speaker, had one member come and say we should get rid of the Lord's Prayer," he said.

Elsewhere in the nation, the Lord's Prayer has given way to innocuous, and some would say, meaningless words.

Indeed, Ontario is now one of only four provinces that still retains the prayer as part of its daily proceedings. The Maritime provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island are the only holdovers against the politically correct.

All other Canadian provinces and territories use a standard generic prayer or moment of reflection. When the Lord's prayer became an issue in Alberta, the province chose a variety of prayers from Canadian and Commonwealth parliaments.

In the new millennium, here's hoping members of the Ontario Legislature will be able to defend keeping the Lord's Prayer as part of their daily opening ceremonies at Queen's Park. Amen.