OTTAWA, Ontario (LifeSiteNews) — A Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) MP is urging Canadians to support a petition that calls on the federal government to proclaim December as “Christian Heritage Month” given the fact other faiths have special months of their own.
“6+ cities across Canada have already proclaimed December as Christian Heritage Month! You can ask your representatives to support December as Christian Heritage Month too. And you can add your support to our petition too,” CPC MP Marilyn Gladu wrote Tuesday on X.
The open CPC petition states that there are approximately 19.6 million Christians “residing in Canada, according to the 2021 Census.” It also reads that “preserving Christian heritage, on which the Dominion of Canada was founded,” is important.
Because of the importance of the Christian faith in Canada’s founding, as noted in the petition, it reads, “Petitioners call upon the Government of Canada to designate December as Christian Heritage Month in Canada, to be recognized annually.”
The petition mentions the fact that there are “several other religions currently enjoying annual government-decreed calendar designations,” those being Sikh Heritage Month, Hindu Heritage Month, Jewish Heritage Month, Muslim History Month, Mennonite Heritage Week, and others.
Last year, Gladu introduced a Private Member’s Bill C-369 that would designate December as “Christian Heritage Month,” saying this is only the “fair and right” thing to do.
The bill reads that “In the negotiations that brought about Confederation, Canada was originally named ‘Dominion of Canada,’ a name reportedly inspired by the passage in the Bible (King James Version) at Psalm 72:8, which states: ‘He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.’”
The bill states that December in Canada marks “significant events and celebrations in the Christian calendar, from the beginning of Advent to the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ; And whereas, according to Statistics Canada’s 2021 Census of Population, Christianity is the largest religion in Canada, with over half of Canadians identifying as Christian.”
Gladu’s bill comes only shortly after an uproar occurred in the House of Commons after the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) suggested that those who celebrate Christian holidays, including Christmas, are exhibiting intolerance and perpetuating so-called “settler colonialism.”
Canada is historically a nation founded on Christian ideals and principles. European settlers who came to Canada from France and then later from what is the modern-day United Kingdom were Christian and included missionaries who tried to spread the faith to the local Indigenous populations.
Canada has observed Christmas since 1641, well before its official founding, according to some historical records.