Town council tantrums (attempt to sue Mayor of Penetanguishene for beginning meeting with a prayer).

Two recent cases show that town council meetings can sometimes be controversial. In Penetanguishene, the Mayor found himself in hot water for beginning the meetings with a prayer. It was his habit to ask town councillors to say the Lord's Prayer but someone took offence and took him to court. A Judge of the Ontario Court (General Division) ruled that the Canadian Charter of Rights did not apply to this situation since the recitation of the prayer was at the personal invitation of the mayor and had no legislative or state sanction. Even if the Charter applied, the Court ruled that the simple recitation of the prayer was not so serious as to be considered an infringement of a citizen's constitutional right to freedom of religion because the effect was trivial or...