Churches are reduced to ‘public culture’

Dear editor,

(Re: Ontario churches concerned about proposed changes to Heritage Act, Jan. 11, Journal Web site)

How curious that the Ontario government seems to overlook practising Christian communities and sees church buildings as merely a residue of historical Canadian “public culture.” Similar to the way churches and government sought to “assimilate” Canadian aboriginal peoples and use their cultures to attract tourists to the provinces, there now seems to be a push to assimilate the artifacts of religious culture to a “common sense” understanding of Canada as a secular society, eh?

Cynthia McLean

Vancouver