Manitoba’s Bill 40

As you may be aware, Humanist Heritage Canada emerged, primarily, from a concern with protecting the freedom of expression in Canada and in support of humanist initiatives to oppose public funding of religion – in schools and other places. It is with these core issues in mind that we note that the current Manitoba government has a bill which may be of tremendous value.

Bill 40 is titled, “AN ACT RESPECTING “O CANADA” AND OTHER OBSERVANCES AND LAND AND TREATY ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS IN SCHOOLS (EDUCATION ADMINISTRATION ACT AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS ACT AMENDED)”. On March 6, 2025, it was at First Reading.

The part that should interest Canadian secularists and humanists says:

Assuming the bill does pass and come into force, this will be a significant advancement for secularization in Canada. As we are not up-to-speed regarding any Manitoba-based humanists or secularists who may have been involved in advocating for the repeal of these regulations, we’ll content ourselves with referring further reading to the recent BC Humanist article, “In 2023, the BC Humanist Association released Religion in Public School Acts, which documented the provinces that still include provisions to permit prayers and Bible studies in schools.“

We join BCHA in their encouragement to Manitoba citizens and residents to contact their Member of Legislative Assembly in support of this provision of Bill 40. The bill has other provisions which are not secularist in nature and deserve evaluation on their own merits.

We also encourage those who are interested in humanism and secularism in Manitoba to procure a copy of Elliot Hanowski’s Toward a Godless Dominion: Unbelief in Interwar Canada. We recently acquired and read a copy (a book review is forthcoming) and were greatly pleased with the thorough review of Manitoba’s significant history of humanism and atheism during that period. If you’re looking for insights into Canada’s humanist heritage, this is a treasure.

Up For Discussion

If you’re interested in analyzing and discussing this issue, there are actions you can take. First, here at Humanist Heritage Canada (Humanist Freedoms), we are open to receiving your well-written articles.

Second, we encourage you to visit the New Enlightenment Project’s (NEP) Facebook page and discussion group.

Citations, References And Other Reading

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Up For Discussion

Citations, References And Other Reading

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