(LifeSiteNews) — Dane Lloyd, the Conservative MP for Parkland, rose in the House of Commons last week to speak against the ongoing Liberal government policy against prayer at public events – including Remembrance Day ceremonies.
As Remembrance Day approaches, military chaplains are deeply concerned with a new Liberal Government policy to ban them from referencing God in public prayers or spiritual reflections.
In November 2024, the House of Commons unanimously affirmed the right of chaplains to… pic.twitter.com/CFELnAteOR
— Dane Lloyd (@DaneLloydMP) September 25, 2026
“Mr. Speaker, as Remembrance Day approaches, military chaplains of many faiths are deeply concerned about government instructions issued over the summer directing them not to reference God in prayer or spiritual reflection,” Lloyd stated to boos from the government benches. He was forced to raise his voice.
“This instruction defies a unanimous motion passed by this House in November 2024 which affirms the rights of chaplains not to be restricted or punished for referencing God in prayer or reflections,” he continued. “I’ve raised this issue with the Minister of National Defence. Will he explain why this instruction was issued over the summer and confirm that chaplains will face no consequences for carrying out their sacred duties?”
“Mr. Speaker, the Canadian Armed Forces is strengthened by its diversity, traditions, backgrounds, and beliefs of its members,” Minister of National Defence David McGuinty responded.
“Policies that support diversity are a moral and ethical responsibility of the Royal Canadian Chaplaincy Service, the Chief of the Defence Staff, and CAF leadership in their commitment to care for all. They have made a decision – they have made a decision – that the spiritual health and wellbeing of CAF members is vital to operational effectiveness and they have, of course, broadened guidelines which do not ban private or personal faith.”
To translate: Yes, public Christian prayers to God – a staple of Remembrance Day ceremonies since 1919 (when it was still referred to as Armistice Day) – are officially banned. McGuinty, in a classic case of progressive doublespeak, frames the ban as a “moral and ethical responsibility” to “diversity,” and emphasizes that you are still allowed to hold faith privately or personally (how very nice of him).
As Anthony Murdoch previously reported here at LifeSiteNews, on July 29, the CAF published its “Spiritual reflections in military settings” policy that provides direction to both military chaplains and CAF members on what is expected during military ceremonies. The new policy mandated that all public or semi-public remarks made by CAF members must strictly follow “religious and spiritual neutrality by not using words, actions, or symbols that are specific to a particular spiritual or faith tradition (SFT) on the part of the Government of Canada.”
This is essentially the formalization of a policy that came into effect under the Trudeau government when a directive banning prayer at Remembrance Day ceremonies in favor of “spiritual reflections” was issued; this directive was reaffirmed in 2024.
This followed a 2022 report from the Trudeau government titled the “Minister of National Defence Advisory Panel on Systemic Racism and Discrimination,” which recommended that the Canadian Armed Forces stop hiring chaplains who “represent or are affiliated with organized religions whose beliefs are not synonymous with those of a diverse and inclusive workplace” as these faiths should be seen as “a source of suffering and intergenerational trauma” for many Canadians, with this being “especially true for many lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and two-spirited members of Canadian society.”
However, after Trudeau Defence Minister Bill Blair insisted there was no prayer ban (although he was contradicted by Col. Lisa Pacarynuk, the director of services for the Royal Canadian Chaplaincy Service), Conservative MP Alex Ruff put forward a motion on November 8, 2024:
That, considering the government has stated that there is no prayer ban, the House call on the government to confirm that military chaplains, ahead of Remembrance Day ceremonies, have the right to offer prayers in their denominations in public spaces and will never be restricted on Remembrance Day or any day nor will any military chaplain face any disciplinary or administrative actions for praying in public spaces.
No MP spoke in opposition, and the assistant deputy speaker declared that: “It is agreed.” McGuinty refused to address this. Instead, he merely affirmed that one of the last bastions of Canada’s Christian heritage – Remembrance Day ceremonies – can no longer contain prayers to God. Mark Carney may be more sophisticated and intelligent than Justin Trudeau, but when it comes to the ongoing removal of Christianity from the public square, he is more of the same.
