A Call to Rescind Canadian Armed Forces Military Personnel Instructions 03/26 – Spiritual reflections in military settings

TO: Minister of National Defence, David McGuinty

The Department of National Defence has issued Canadian Armed Forces Military Personnel Instructions 03/26 – Spiritual reflections in military settings. Under the stated claim of "neutrality," these instructions forbid military chaplains from praying or using God’s name and instead permit only secular “spiritual reflections”. 

Rather than maintaining state neutrality, this directive actively discriminates against Christian chaplains and many from other faith traditions. In mandating secular neutrality as the official religious expression of the Canadian Armed Forces, these instructions violate the Charter rights of military personnel and undercut the historic foundations of Canada. Our service members, who sacrifice so much for their country, deserve the spiritual care and support their chaplains have traditionally provided.

• WHEREAS the Preamble to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms states that "Canada is founded upon principles that recognize the supremacy of God and the rule of law"; and

• WHEREAS Military Personnel Instruction 03/26 mandates that public "spiritual reflections do not use religious specific language, including references to God," thereby stripping public military gatherings of any acknowledgment of God; and

• WHEREAS the instructions claim "neutrality" but result in active discrimination with the prohibition of “religious specific language, including references to God, etc.”

• WHEREAS mandating that chaplains and military personnel perform their duties without honouring God as God or giving Him thanks compels them to violate their religious convictions.

We, the undersigned, call on the Minister of National Defence, David McGuinty, to direct the Chief of the Defence Staff to rescind Canadian Armed Forces Military Personnel Instructions 03/26.