By Lloyd Mackey

IT used to be that, when new Canadians went to Citizenship Court to pledge their allegiance, they could find a copy of their particular holy book on a table, and use it during the swearing of their citizenship oath.

In 2004, apparently after some complaints that the Citizenship Court appeared to be plumping too closely in favour of religious belief, groups offering the books for pickup were banned from the courtrooms during the ceremonies.

Sometime this week, Immigration and Citizenship Minister Jason Kenney will be informing the courts -- there are dozens of them across Canada -- that they can, once again, make arrangements with local groups who want to volunteer to make the holy books available.

Kenney told OttawaWatch on August 30 that the restoration of the holy book availability occurred at the urging of MPs from at least three political parties. He gave particular credit to two from the opposition ranks, Peter Stoffer of the NDP and Liberal John McKay.

Responding to a question about whether he would be appointing a holy book "czar" to oversee the restoration program nationally, Kenney made the point that this was not going to be an excuse to "build a bureaucracy."

Local Citizenship Court offices will be free to set up the kinds of arrangements that they want, he said.

"It restores the practice of pluralism. But it is not a license for proselytizing. Any groups making books available will do so at information tables that are unobtrusive. People will not be handed books or pamphleted."

Kenney, himself a devout Catholic, says the restoration of the practice "pays respect to the fact that for many, their faith is central to their lives."

In preparing to issue the guidelines for the use of holy books, the minister said he and his ministry had consulted widely among the diversity of religious groups represented in Canada.

And he pointed out that restoring the availability of the books, will provide new citizens with what has been available to members of parliament and cabinet ministers, when they were sworn to office.

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Kenney is careful to note that, even in the absence of the book tables, new citizens had still been permitted to bring their own copies of scripture. And the choice of swearing an oath with one's hand on a holy book or simply affirming their citizenship remains available.

"This is the essence of pluralism," he suggested, noting that some Christians, for example, do not believe in using a Bible to take an oath -- preferring to affirm, rather than swear on the book.

"There are a wide range of practices among the various religions, with respect to the use of their holy books in this way," he noted -- adding that, in many ways, the practice of allowing groups to supply the books is recognition of the "symbolic" importance of religious belief among many new citizens.

In past practice, local chapters of the Canadian Bible Society (CBS) have been active in making Bibles available at citizenship ceremonies. With the issuing of this week's bulletin, he expects citizenship court offices will be able to open lines of communication with the CBS and their counterparts in other religions.

There are a few interesting suggestions in the guidelines. For example, "in order to reflect Canada's two official languages, the religious organization should offer holy books in English, French or both."

And "holy books should not be handed to clients at the citizenship ceremony, but rather displayed where clients can help themselves before the ceremony."

Further, "when present, representatives from religious organizations should be discreet and not promote or lecture [about] their beliefs."

The procedural description makes clear that "the responsibility for supplying and housing/storing of holy books rests with the religious organization wishing to provide the material."

And finally: "Local offices should only accept to display holy books from religious organizations if the books are offered free of charge."

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Lloyd Mackey is a member of the Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery in Ottawa and author of Stephen Harper: The Case for Collaborative Governance (ECW Press, 2006), More Faithful Than We Think: Stories and Insights on Canadian Leaders Doing Politics Christianly (BayRidge Books, 2005) and Like Father, Like Son: Ernest Manning and Preston Manning (ECW Press, 1997). Lloyd can be reached at lmackey@canadianchristianity.com.

September 2/2010