The mayor of at least one GTA municipality says the Lord's Prayer will still be recited before council meetings, despite a Supreme Court ruling Wednesday that could lead the way to abolishing the practice across Canada.

“I'm proud to be a Canadian,” Oshawa Mayor John Henry told the Star, shortly after hearing about the high court ruling. “I intend to continue doing the Lord's Prayer prior to the commencement of the council meetings.”

Henry made it clear that in Oshawa the prayer is recited just before the formal meeting commences in council chambers.

He said there is widespread support in Oshawa for carrying on with the practice. “We ask that people please join in the Lord's Prayer or take a moment of reflection.”

The Supreme Court ruled that a similar practice by the mayor of Saguenay, Quebec, Jean Tremblay, violates the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms, as individuals attending council meetings are not free from the imposition of religion by the local government.

Constitutional experts have started to weigh-in saying that a similar complaint outside Quebec would likely lead to a similar decision by the Supreme Court under the Canadian Charter, as the two charters are very similar in regard to this particular issue.

Brampton Mayor Linda Jeffrey stopped the practice of reciting the Lord's Prayer before council meetings earlier in the year and today Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie indicated her council will now do the same, after the Supreme Court decision. At the beginning of the year she supported keeping the Lord's Prayer in Mississauga council meetings.

“Today’s ruling sets a precedent and the City of Mississauga will abide by the Supreme Court’s ruling,” Crombie said.

At the beginning of the year Crombie supported keeping the Lord's Prayer in Mississauga council meetings, after Councillor Carolyn Parrish had pushed to remove it from council meetings.

“I'm pleased with the decision and hope it will apply to all of Canada,” Parrish said Wednesday. “It shows sensitivity to the multi-religious nature of today's population and shows there is a separation of places of work and places of worship.”

But Henry says he will not change things, for now.

But Henry says he will not change things, for now.

“Living in the greatest democracy in the world, I am open to debate, but in the meantime at the next council meeting we will continue with the practice.”

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