Courtesy: Edmonton Journal
Three schools ditch Lord’s Prayer to avoid human-rights case
The prospect of spending thousands of dollars on legal fees has prompted a public school division to end daily recitations of the Lord’s Prayer at three of its schools. A year and a half after the Pembina Hills public school board received a human rights complaint claiming the prayer infringed upon religious freedoms, an attempt to find a compromise has failed. Instead of heading to a tribunal, the board halted the prayer Friday at Busby, Dunstable and North Pembina schools, which are all northwest of Edmonton and are the only schools in the division where the prayer was recited. “At the end of the day, we have to look at the risks. We’re not in the business of challenging the Constitution,” said Pembina Hills school board chairperson Jennifer Tuininga.