Different prayers for different faiths may get 'everyone on board' with changing legislature prayer: Kinew

Manitoba's premier is open to the legislative chamber hearing a rotation of different prayers reflective of various faith traditions so more people can see themselves and their religious practices represented.

Wab Kinew says a roster of different prayers was one idea floated during a prayer summit the government held in September with the leaders of various faith traditions and experts in secularism.

Some people said "why don't we have like a roster of seven, eight different prayers … one day it's the Christian prayer, the next day it's a Buddhist reflection, an Indigenous prayer maybe on the third day and so on and so forth," Kinew said in an interview last Thursday.

The summit also heard from proponents for a multi-denominational prayer, which is in line with the premier's comments in April when he told a breakfast of religious leaders he wanted it to be more inclusive of people who practice faiths other than Christianity, and those with no faith at all. 

Each sitting day at the legislature begins with the Speaker of the House reciting a prayer.

While the invocation, adopted in 1937, has no overtly Christian references, it still feels like a Christian prayer, Kinew previously said. It has references to God, uses archaic English, and ends with "amen."

WATCH | Hear the daily prayer read at the legislature:

After the summit, Kinew said the government compiled a document with what it heard from attendees and sent it to Speaker Tom Lindsey, who initially proposed the change.

Any decision will require the consensus of other parties. It will be left to the legislature's rules committee, which is chaired by the Speaker, and includes the NDP and Progressive Conservative House leaders, as well as the legislature's only Liberal member.

No timeline has been determined yet. 

Kinew hopes the opposition can "see themselves reflected in some of the options put forward," he said.

"It might be that having that roster of different prayers, where different faith communities might each have a turn hearing their specific way of praying reflected in the legislature, that might be the way that we can sort of ensure everyone is on board."

He said he's heard good uptake from spiritual leaders to the idea of adjusting the prayer, which he insists remains an important moment of reflection, during which legislators can put the greater good ahead of their partisan interests.

"The overall message that we heard" from summit attendees is "it's really important that our democratic institutions keep pace with where our society is at."