Will faith play a role in Canadian politics?

Will Ottawa see an increase in conservative Christian values with the election of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, an evangelical Christian and adherent at a Christian and Missionary Alliance church? Or, given the limits of a minority government, will faith-based conservative viewpoints be held at bay?

Bruce Clemenger, president of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, sees great promise in the recent election results. “We now have a government that will be more sympathetic to a number of the issues of concern to evangelicals,” he recently told Baptist Press.

Although religion did not seem to play a large role in political campaigning prior to the election, several Christians won their ridings and now have a voice in parliament. Evangelicals such as Stockwell Day, Minister of Public Safety, and Chuck Strahl, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board, were elected in British Columbia. Devout Presbyterian and Conservative MP Jim Prentice returned to Calgary Centre-North. (The MP’s Alberta riding has a high gay population and Prentice carries the distinction of having voted with the Liberals in favour of same-sex marriage.)

Not all elected Christians are of a politically conservative bent, however. For example, Raymond Chan, a Liberal who is connected to the Chinese Mennonite Brethren community, holds a seat in Richmond, B.C. and was multicultural minister in Paul Martin’s cabinet.

Mennonite Brethren connections

Several other candidates with Mennonite Brethren connections found their way into the political arena during the recent election.

Ed Fast

Ed Fast, a newcomer to the federal political scene and a member of South Abbotsford MB Church, was elected with a 63.28% mandate from voters. Fast will represent Abbotsford, sitting on the Conservative bench in the House of Commons. A lawyer by profession, Fast hopes to serve his constituency with integrity and distinction, and “fully expects,” he says, “that his Christian faith will inform many of the decisions that he will make.”

Fast served on the Abbotsford City Council for nine years, during which he served as deputy mayor and chair of Parks, Recreation and Culture Commission. A highly respected member of his local community, Fast supports the notion of “a separation between the role of religious institutions and the role of government.”

However, this doesn’t mean elected officials leave their faith values at home. “It is inconceivable that values such as compassion, mercy, peace-making, forgiveness, reconciliation, justice, self-sacrifice, and loving one’s neighbour as oneself should be excluded from public discourse,” says Fast.

Paul Francis

On the other side of the country, Paul Francis, pastor of Gateway Community Church, a Mennonite Brethren Church in Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia, campaigned for the Conservative party, but fell short of winning the seat. For his first run in the political arena, Francis won an admirable 9,451 votes.

After years of service on MB Conference boards and committees, and local community involvement with the Metro Food Bank and MCC, Francis is acutely aware of the challenges of leadership. Last spring, he decided to try his hand at Canadian federal politics, hoping to bring his faith-based experience to Parliament Hill.

“I have never publicly declared my political affiliation prior to this election, although I encouraged my congregation to be politically active,” Francis says. “The decision to run was almost like a necessary step in what God had called me to in giving leadership to many city-wide initiatives over the past 15 years.”

“I believe that the Canadian church has failed in its calling to be salt and light in our society by not participating in the political process and that we need to be involved to fulfill our prophetic calling,” the pastor continues. “I believe it was the prayers for our country that caused not only me, but many other Christian leaders, to be tapped on the shoulder by the Holy Spirit to run in the recent election.”

Another politician and prominent minister in Harper’s new cabinet with strong Mennonite Brethren roots is Vic Toews, who represents Provencher riding in Manitoba. Toews grew up in Winnipeg and is an alumnus of Mennonite Brethren Collegiate Institute.

—Laura Kalmar