COUNTRY
CanadaPOPULATION
34,300,083 (July 2012 est.)GDP PER CAPITA
$41,100 (2011 est.)RELIGIONS
Roman Catholic 42.6%, Protestant 23.3% (United Church 9.5%, Anglican 6.8%, Baptist 2.4%, Lutheran 2%), other Christian 4.4%, Muslim 1.9%, other and unspecified 11.8%, none 16% (2001 census)AT THE CENTER
Matthew Scherer on 9/11, the Financial Crisis, and Climate Change as Conversion Events (Full Screen)
RELATED RESOURCES
ORGANIZATIONS (4)
PEOPLE (5)
QUOTES (6)
Stephen Harper on the Influence of Faith on Policy
April 9, 2006
Paul Martin on Faith and Same-Sex Marriage in a Speech to House of Commons
February 16, 2005
Stephen Harper on Opposition to a Same-Sex Marriage Amendment in Speech to House of Commons
February 16, 2005
April 9, 2006
Paul Martin on Faith and Same-Sex Marriage in a Speech to House of Commons
February 16, 2005
Stephen Harper on Opposition to a Same-Sex Marriage Amendment in Speech to House of Commons
February 16, 2005
PUBLICATIONS (2)
Christianity and Ethnicity in Canada
January 1, 2008
Religion and Public Life in Canada: Historical and Comparative Perspectives
January 1, 2001
January 1, 2008
Religion and Public Life in Canada: Historical and Comparative Perspectives
January 1, 2001
Canada
Interviews (17)
Canada is an overwhelmingly Christian country, though the role of religion in public life has waned in recent decades. French settlement beginning in the 17th century established a Roman Catholic francophone population in Lower Canada, now Quebec, followed by English settlement that brought Anglicans and other Protestants to Upper Canada, now Ontario. The religious, cultural, and political antagonism between Canadian Protestants and Catholics remained a central theme of Canadian history. The most recent vote for Quebec’s secession from Canada, held in 1995, was defeated by only 1%. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees freedom of religion and prohibits religiously based discrimination. Provinces are permitted to fund religious education in public schools, leading to funding of Catholic education in Catholic-majority areas like Quebec, and funding of Protestant education in much of the rest of the country.
Background: This conversation between Ray Caggiano (SIM Special Projects Manager), Bob Blees (SIM Medical Advocate), John Barnshaw III (SIM Health Advocate), and Anny Gaul (Berkley Center) took place on May 11, 2011 in Charlotte, NC, at SIM’s U.S. headquarters. The interview was conducted as research for a series of issue surveys done by the Berkley Center with the support of the Luce/SFS Program on Religion and International Affairs. Anny Gaul sat down with the SIM staff members responsible...
Background: This discussion preceded the January 2011 consultation on faith and development in South and Central Asia in Dhaka, Bangladesh. A December 15 interview was conducted by telephone between Michael Bodakowski and Farida Vahedi, amplified through email correspondence with Katherine Marshall in March 2011. Ms. Vahedi describes the diverse programs, teachings, and initiatives of the Baha’i community in India and South Asia. She plays leading roles on many fronts; education and women’s...
Background: This discussion between Dominique Peccoud and Katherine Marshall took place at Georgetown University on February 3, 2011 and focused on Father Peccoud’s reflections on his work at the ILO and his reflections following his retirement from the ILO after his 12-year term. He explores the unique and historic role of the advisory position he held at the ILO, as a Jesuit within a United Nations institution. He highlights how the significance of decent work, the mantra of the ILO, is...
Background: The context for this discussion is preparation for a consultation on faith and development in South and Central Asia in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on January 10-11, 2011. The consultation is an endeavor of the World Faiths Development Dialogue (WFDD) and the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs at Georgetown University, Washington DC, with support from the Henry R. Luce Foundation. Its aim is to take stock of the wide range of ongoing work by different organizations that...
Background: This discussion took place in preparation for a consultation on faith and development in South and Central Asia, held in Dhaka, Bangladesh January 10-11, 2011. The consultation is an endeavor of the World Faiths Development Dialogue (WFDD) and the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs at Georgetown University, with support from the Henry R. Luce Foundation. Its aim is to take stock of the wide range of ongoing work by different organizations that are, in varying...
This conversation between Ted Olbrich and Ethan Carroll took place over three-and-a-half hours on August 30, 2010, and also includes information from a brief follow-up phone call. Pastor Olbrich discusses the structure of Foursquare Cambodia while conducting a tour of the Church's Phnom Penh training facility, contributing enlightening insights into Pentecostalism's approach to reaching the “poorest of the poor.” He also discusses his belief in the failures of “humanist...
This discussion took place in Phnom Penh between Kim Vuth and Katherine Marshall in the context of WFDD's review of faith-inspired work in Cambodia. It focuses on Kim Vuth's work with Initiatives of Change and, more broadly, on different approaches of groups working on conflict resolution in Cambodia. He focuses on work addressing conflicts that are primarily about ethnicity, but describes how tightly ethnic, cultural, and religious identities are bound together. He reflects on the...
Background: This May 2010 telephone exchange between Kathryn Poethig and Katherine Marshall explores Dr. Poethig's academic and professional experience with women's struggles for social justice and peace, particularly in the Philippines and Cambodia. She urges a particular focus on the role and efficacy of networks in both religious and non-religious contexts. Noting that the gulfs between secular and religious tend to be less pronounced outside the United States and Europe, she sees...
Background: Agnes Appiah is a true social entrepreneur with a passion and mission to help neglected and marginalized children. This discussion took place between Ms. Appiah and Lillian Marshall in Sogakope, Volta Region, Ghana on March 21, 2010 as part of the World Faith Development Dialogue's exploration of how religion and development work intersect in Ghana. In this interview, Ms. Appiah, who has created an independent school and residential home focused on needy and orphaned children,...
Background: The context for this discussion was in preparation for a consultation on faith and development in Asia held in Phnom Penh Cambodia December 14-15 2009. It was an endeavor of the World Faiths Development Dialogue (WFDD), the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs at Georgetown University, with support from the Luce Foundation, and the University of Cambodia. The event took stock of the wide range of ongoing work by different organizations that are, in varying ways,...
Background: This discussion, on November 5, 2009, between Michael Bodakowski and Joan Anderson, focuses on the work and philosophy that informs SGI's rather unique approach and role in different societies and its central focus on peace. The fundamental flaw with development programs, Anderson argues, is that they improve tangible situations without improving the morale and confidence of the people in that situation. Without addressing the latter, monetary and infrastructure changes will see...
Background:This exchange with Augustina Delaney in Phnom Penh was part of a WFDD review of development and faith in Cambodia; it was supplemented by an email exchange with Katherine Marshall. The interview focuses on the history and evolution of KEAP's work in Cambodia and its role in helping to restore the Buddhist culture and institutions after the Khmer Rouge period. More broadly, it explores the continuing challenges to Cambodia's Buddhism as it is confronted by both politics and...
Background: Bernard Liese has focused over a long career on global public health issues. In this discussion the focus is on tuberculosis but reaches beyond to broader issues of international engagement on priority public health. He describes the “rediscovery” of tuberculosis in the 1980s and 1990s, as it had largely disappeared from view in wealthier countries. New challenges include: powerful evidence of high TB HIV/AIDS co-infection and drug resistant TB. The remarkable performance of the...
Background: This discussion between Katherine Marshall, Brady Walkinshaw, and Corina Villacorta was part of preparatory work for a January 30-31, 2009 consultation in Antigua, Guatemala on roles of faith-inspired organizations in development. The conference was part of a joint Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs and Luce Foundation project on religion and international relations. In the conversation, Ms. Villacorta describes how for her, World Vision is “a place that linked...
Background: This conversation between Roksana Bahramitash and Katherine Marshall took place on December 2, 2007 as part of the preparatory work for a December 17 conference in Doha examining the role of faith-linked organizations on social and economic development in the Muslim world. In this interview, Ms. Bahramitash shares how her experiences working to promote literacy in post-revolutionary Iran led her to explore the role of faith-based organizations in development and in the informal...
Background: The following conversation between Patrice Brodeur and Katherine Marshall was conducted by phone as part of preparation for a December 17, 2007 conference in Doha on "Global Development and Faith-Inspired Organizations in the Muslim World." Mr. Brodeur shares how he became passionate about the study of religions and discusses his current involvement in the interfaith dialogue in the Islamic world. He describes his vision of "inter-worldview dialogue" as intended to merge the...
Background: Stephen Weir is the Vice President for Global Development and Support at Habitat for Humanity International. Previously, he worked in Bangkok where he was Vice President for Habitat's Asia programs. He is an architect by profession. In April 2007 he participated in the Symposium sponsored by the Berkley Center on “Faith-Inspired Organizations and Global Development: US and International Perspectives.” In this interview, Weir draws from his experiences to explain how...