For years, a short prayer has been a part of Pierrefonds council meetings, but that's about to change.
The Surpreme Court of Canada ruled prayers had no place at city council meetings Wednesday. The case involved the mayor of Saguenay who was fighting an atheist resident to keep the tradition of saying a prayer before council.
Saguenay Mayor Jean Tremblay says he'll respect the Supreme Court's decision, even if he doesn't agree with it.
“We thought that we would win that trial, but you know what happened. We're really sad about that,” he said.
In Pierrefonds, the pre-meeting prayer invokes God to guide councillors in their decision-making, something that has always made councillor Justine McIntyre uncomfortable.
“I didn't feel that it was the right place for it and quite honestly I was just very surprised,” she said.
But the Pierrefonds mayor says the prayer never seemed to be an issue.
“We've never had any complaints, problems, opposition to holding it. People have been very respectful. As I've stated many times, people stand or sit respectfully through the short minute that it takes to read the prayers, essentially blessing the proceedings,” said Jim Beis.
Still, he says Pierrefonds is ready to make a change.
“We're there to respect the decision of the [Supreme] Court of Canada, no question. We will be bringing that up with our municipal council at the next caucus before our next council meeting,” Beis said.
