MPs debate chaplain prayer restrictions

A week before Remembrance Day, opposition MPs are pressing the government to reverse a Defence Department policy restricting military chaplains’ use of faith-specific language at official events.

During debate on a Conservative supply-day motion concerning federal procurement, opposition MPs renewed calls for the government to reverse directives restricting military chaplains’ freedom to pray at official functions.

The House debated the issue on Nov. 2 as part of a motion calling on the government to cancel a security contract awarded to a Canadian subsidiary of an American firm and give it to a Canadian supplier. 

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During the debate, Conservative MP Blake Richards of Airdrie—Cochrane, Alta., cited the policy as an example of the government failing veterans. “They have taken away the ability for prayer at Remembrance Day services,” he said.

Conservative MP Dane Lloyd of Parkland, Alta., said a military chaplain had raised concerns about whether an Indigenous person who referred to the Creator could be barred from doing so and how that would fit with reconciliation efforts.

Lloyd said the military chaplaincy had not had an opportunity to meet with the defence minister since the Harper government and there had been no meaningful consultation on the policy.

Kevin Lamoureux, the Liberal MP for Winnipeg North and parliamentary secretary to the government House leader, said he had not been approached by chaplains about the issue. He invited chaplains or Indigenous leaders with concerns to speak with him, saying he would be “more than happy to have that discussion personally with them.”

Bishop Scott McCaig earlier told Canadian Catholic News that religious leaders and chaplains weren’t given the opportunity to discuss other options and that requests for meetings had been declined for several years.

The Department of National Defence told CCN in August that it had consulted internal and external stakeholders, including chaplains and the Interfaith Committee on Canadian Military Chaplaincy (ICCMC), while noting that the committee does not approve or endorse CAF policy instruments.

Lloyd earlier raised the policy during Question Period, arguing that it conflicted with a unanimous House motion passed in November 2024 affirming chaplains’ right to offer denominational prayers in public without restrictions or discipline. He asked Defence Minister David McGuinty why the instruction had been issued and whether chaplains would face consequences.

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McGuinty defended the policy as supporting diversity and said the guidelines did not ban private or personal faith. He did not directly answer Lloyd’s question about consequences for chaplains praying at official events.

On Oct. 8, at a meeting of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, Conservative MP Michael Barrett of Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands—Rideau Lakes, Ont., asked Veterans Affairs Minister Jill McKnight whether military chaplains could face discipline for praying at Royal Canadian Legion Remembrance Day ceremonies, including the national ceremony in Ottawa.

When McKnight referred the question to department officials, Barrett asked: “The question is, are they allowed to pray?”

The committee chair, Liberal MP Marie-France Lalonde, said Barrett’s time had expired, then noted that prayers continued at her own Legion. Barrett clarified that he was asking about military chaplains, not a local spiritual leader invited by the Legion.

Lutheran Church–Canada (LCC) has added its voice religious groups opposing the policy. In an Oct. 6 statement, it acknowledged the CAF’s goals of respecting freedom of conscience and religion and maintaining religious neutrality, but said it is concerned about whether neutrality requires removing explicitly religious expression by chaplains.

LCC proposed an alternative: allow a brief prayer led by a chaplain, accompanied by a clear statement that it reflects the chaplain’s own faith tradition and that participation is voluntary. The church called for a review of the policy.

In advance of Remembrance Day, the Interfaith Committee on Canadian Military Chaplaincy (ICCMC), issued a statement describing chaplains’ role in providing spiritual and religious care to all, and expressing solidarity with chaplains and Chaplain General Colonel Lisa Pacarynuk. 

It acknowledged that faith traditions differ over religious neutrality and references to the divine at public military ceremonies, without commenting on the new policy.

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In a July 31 statement, the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) said the policy restricted chaplains’ ability to acknowledge the range of beliefs in the CAF and called for it to be rescinded and replaced with a policy that makes room for diverse beliefs, including belief in God.

“This policy goes beyond banning prayer and prohibits even the acknowledgment to those gathered that some may believe in the divine and others not,” said Bruce Clemenger, EFC senior ambassador and president emeritus, and an ICCMC member.