The mayor of Belleville, Ont., has drawn ire online by holding a "prayer breakfast" for faith-based organizations earlier this week.

The gathering, advertized by the city as the "Mayor's Prayer Breakfast," was held Tuesday to recognize faith-based groups that provide services to people in the community.

"[The breakfast] was designed to be an opportunity to say thank you, that we recognize their assistance and the positive difference they make in the lives of helping people," Mayor Mitch Panciuk told CBC Radio's Ontario Morning.

The interfaith breakfast included guests from the city's Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh communities.

Belleville Mayor Mitch Panciuk said he plans to continue holding the interfaith breakfasts. (Marilyn Warren/City of Belleville)

Reaction online

On social media, some critics made it clear they didn't agree with the gathering.

"Government and religion should be entirely separate. Not everyone believes in a divine being," wrote one commenter. "Religion and politics should not be mixed," another agreed.

Others questioned why tax dollars were used to hold a prayer breakfast.

But Panciuk likened the breakfast to similar ones the city holds to recognize other types of organizations, including the Chamber of Commerce and labour groups.

"Not everybody is a member of those organizations, but we recognize that they do good things for us," he said. "From a city [perspective], we would be unable to step in and to fill the vacuum if they were not here or if they had to leave."

Plans to hold more

Panciuk said the good work faith-based groups do often goes unrecognized, and pointed out he specifically mentioned the prayer breakfast during his inaugural speech.

Panciuk isn't the first Canadian politician to hold such an event: The Mayors of Muskoka host an annual prayer breakfast, as do the speakers of the House and Senate on behalf of the Parliamentary Prayer Breakfast Group.

Both are Christian-based events.

Panciuk said he plans to continue holding the breakfasts, and will invite people from different faiths to speak.