TORONTO (OSV News) — Rewind the clock to a little over one year ago.
The Canadian Human Rights Commission was attracting scorn for a discussion paper declaring that statutory holidays such as Christmas are a manifestation of the “discrimination against religious minorities in Canada” and “grounded in Canada’s history of colonialism.”
Critics decried that the commission was labeling Christmas as a racist observance — the agency released another statement declaring it did no such thing — and a striking example of rising anti-Christian hostility in the public square.
This discourse particularly bothered Molly Banerjei, co-founder of the Christian Music Festival in Toronto alongside her husband, Jay.
“When we read that, we realized, ‘Oh my God, we’re heading towards persecution,'” said Banerjei in an interview with The Catholic Register, Canada’s national Catholic newspaper based in Toronto. “They’re about to declare the whole religion that these festivals belong to as racist. And then what happens to institutions that are racist?”
The Banerjeis and a large host of Christians from coast to coast were determined to counteract this apparent antagonism against their faith. A public campaign was waged in cities, towns and villages across the country for December to be hailed as Christian Heritage Month.
On Nov. 14, the script was officially flipped, and this grassroots effort attained its most seismic victory to date: Toronto City Council voted that Canada’s largest metropolis would commemorate the final month of the year as Christian Heritage Month.
Toronto is one of 35 municipalities that have assented to this initiative as of Nov. 25. Ottawa, Markham and Vaughan in Ontario; Regina and Saskatoon in Saskatchewan; Okotoks and Red Deer in Alberta; and Prince George and Whistler in British Columbia are just a few of the settings saluting Christian Heritage Month. Many are holding special flag-raising ceremonies to mark the occasion.
Debate ensues in Toronto over vote
Though this effort was greeted with little resistance in many of the 35 towns or cities, this was not the case in Toronto. An emotionally heated debate between councillors preceded the evening vote.
Councillor Gord Perks, during a lengthy diatribe, declared “that Canada as an entity is soaked and steeped in the Christian Church, they do not need separate recognition.” He said when the city does something like “recognize a different group,” such as Sikh Heritage Month or Hindu Heritage Month, it is an “effort to rebalance.”
Perks then encouraged his colleagues to vote down the motion because ‘”Christian Heritage’ is not a neutral phrase in the Canadian political landscape,” alluding to the pro-life, socially conservative Christian Heritage Party.
“That party is anti-abortion, anti-same-sex marriage, says that Islam is a threat to democracy, denies that climate change is caused by CO2,” said Perks. The politician also suggested that “if you really want to go down the rabbit hole,” Google the phrase “Christian Heritage Front.”
Banerjei dismissed all of Perks’ claims linking Christianity and in turn events like the Christian Music Festival to any Canadian or American political groups or associations “as baseless” and added that his call to “rebalance” by recognizing every other cultural group and religious denomination sans Christians as “a bad argument.”
“These are people who claim to be fair, equitable and inclusive — all those buzzwords — and then he excluded not only the largest faith group but also the most diverse,” said Banerjei.
Over the past nine years the Banerjeis, both of Indian descent, have orchestrated the Christian Music Festival in Toronto’s Nathan Philips Square. Molly Banerjei said the 15,000-20,000 attendees come from 60 to 70 ethnic groups.
Though Perks and others’ remarks were discouraging, Councillor Lily Cheng delivered a heartening and emotional address. During her speech, she declared, “Christianity saved my life.”
“There’s so much good and beauty in Christianity”
“I struggled with eating disorders and depression. I had a lot of challenges because I had adverse childhood events that I didn’t even know were having such a difficult impact on me,” said Cheng during the meeting. “Kind, gracious people loved me and showed me that I was worthy to be loved, that I didn’t even know that, and they walked with me so patiently, and who I am today would not be without this faith that has carried me.”
Cheng alluded to “dark things” of the past but also affirmed that “there’s so much good and beauty in Christianity,” and cited that Christians make up 34.9% of Toronto’s population.
While the Banerjei duo were particularly vigorous in Toronto, others such as Ghada Melek, a member of the Canada Back to GOD movement, were at work in other municipalities. She told the Register she was excited to attend the Christian Heritage Month flag ceremony in Mississauga Dec. 4.
Melek, who hails from a culture in Egypt where “Christians are marginalized, persecuted and not given equal treatment,” expressed gratitude for Cheng’s courage to share her testimony.
“I feel that people like her are brave and it’s important to stand up because sometimes we lose our voice,” said Melek. “Lots of Christians prefer to stay quiet, but it is time to stand up for our faith. We need to know our faith and history to separate the truth from the propaganda because we too get confused.”
Banerjei is calling on followers of Christ to mark this heritage month by recognizing the ties that bind denominations, expressing their faith joyfully and to embody the Christian values of love, service and compassion.
Melek said it is important to recognize Sam Kunjicka, a resident of Brampton in the Greater Toronto area, as a forerunner of this movement. The volunteers he mobilized from local churches convinced Brampton City Council on Nov. 20, 2019, to unanimously approve December as Christian Heritage Month.
Banerjei signaled that Christian Heritage Month is an ascending force with more to accomplish. She wants the observance recognized in more major cities, including Vancouver, British Columbia; Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta; and Winnipeg, Manitoba. She is working on Ontario Premier Doug Ford to declare Christian Heritage Month provincially and also is pushing for federal recognition.
