by Tony Keene
On the fourth day of May this year, an agency of the Canadian federal government paraded through the streets of Montreal, behind pipes and drums. Accompanied by their retirees association, and their allied youth group, they walked into a Christian church where the symbols of their agency were laid on the altar, and their senior supervisor read the lesson.
This, a decade after the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that government, all government, must be neutral towards religion.
The Black Watch is a reserve unit of the Canadian Army, and it holds this parade and Christian church ceremony every year. As well as enrolled serving soldiers, it includes the Regimental Association and Cadet corps. The soldiers taking part are paid, under supervision and on the job. Our tax dollars are being spent on this, and there is nothing subtle about it.
The video 2025-05-04 THE BLACK WATCH (ROYAL HIGHLAND REGIMENT)OF CANADA CHURCH PARADE shows the entire church service. Fast forward to the 19-minute mark to see the senior officer lay the Colours on the altar, and follow on to hear him deliver the sermon.
Across Canada, many military units do this, or something like it. They are mostly reserve, part-time formations, but they are taxpayer-funded and part of our defence system. Many reservists today serve on operational missions where they are exposed to the same dangers and risks as their regular force comrades.
And at any time their officers can impose religious ministers or ritual on them, without any prior consultation. It is top-down; the orders are issued by those in command. Even if the event is described as voluntary, it is not, because unit cohesion and group loyalty are a vital part of military discipline, and few have the temerity to object. Pressure is exerted at all leadership levels to ensure a good turnout.
Church parades, as they are called, are the most flagrant violations of the Supreme Court decision. There are many others, subtle and not-so subtle. When the Chief of the Defence Staff, Gen. Jennie Carignan took office, the first order of business was a homily by the chaplain-general, a Christian minister, delivered to the Governor General, the Prime Minister and other important military and government officials, on nationwide television.
What other senior public servant would be installed in office this way?
The military chaplaincy, about 600 strong, is a state priesthood, funded by the taxpayer. And it is almost wholly Christian; there is a mere handful of leaders from other faiths, and one Humanist. Although recent directives have caused their public utterances to be anodyne and neutral, their mere appearance and official role completely denies anything approaching neutrality. Any other department or agency which used ordained ministers like this would be called out immediately, and heads would roll.
Been to a military event recently? An airshow on a base, a Cadet grad parade? Remember being called on to stand and take off your hat for a “Moment of Reflection” by a Christian minister? The Cadet summer training system is a case in point: only a short time ago it was also a Christian indoctrination program, with compulsory church attendance enforced by threats of extra drill and work, compulsory religious instruction by ministers, and prayers on any and all occasions. Although it has been toned down, it is still there. The youngsters still have homilies inflicted on them, with no chance to abstain or walk away. Doing so could result in punishment, but it doesn’t because like members of the Forces, the Cadets are conditioned to obey orders. (That could be the subject of an entire column by itself.)
And that’s the main point. The military does not do religion because of religion; commanders really don’t care what their troops believe. They care that they obey orders, and act together. Religion in the military is not about the exercise of faith, but rather the exercise of authority. It is a disciplinary measure. Ask any senior military officer why he marched his unit to church, or held a religious service of any kind, and his answer will contain no mention of faith. It will stress unit cohesion, the “regimental family”, bonding and other bland assurances. But he/she will say nothing about religion. Almost guaranteed.
From coast-to-coast, every year, chaplains are used to bring solemnity to parades, ceremonies, presentations, graduations and social events. They are Crown officers, acting under the orders of other Crown officers, exercising state authority. And it goes almost completely unremarked.
As secularists and Canadians we are right to be concerned with blasphemy laws in other countries. We might also suspect that somewhere a little municipal council, huddled in the furnace room, is still opening its meetings with prayer.
The Forces are doing this in the open, in full public gaze. It’s time someone noticed.
Note: Tony Keene is a retired reservist, with a military career spanning five decades, from 1964 to 2007. He took part in four overseas missions after turning 50. He is also a journalist, writer and broadcaster, formerly with Broadcast News/The Canadian Press, and United Press Canada. As an atheist, during his time in uniform he was often introduced as “our resident heathen” and was thrice threatened with charges for refusing to take part in religious services. He lives at Oro Station, Ontario.
Time for atheist soldiers to mensch up and start an Atheists in Foxholes organization!
In WW2 army service, my father’s religion was designated as Eastern Orthodox, as his parents were non-Catholic Ukrainians from the former Austro-Hungarian empire. This designation allowed him to give standard religious services conducted by Protestant and Catholic clergy a miss, on condition that he and other non-mainstream-faith soldiers assemble outside the church for the full duration of the early-morning service. My secular dad joked that without this condition the whole congregation would quickly renounce their beliefs, preferring to spend their mornings in bed. My dad was pragmatic about such things – outside in good weather, inside in bad.
Would appreciate a draft of a letter we could sign and send off to MLA’s and MP’s in protest of this. It could also include a protest of the funding of clergy in the military ( and hospitals as well)…not where I want my taxes to go !)