A History of the Regulation of Religion in the Canadian Public Square. By
REMOTE CONTROL: A History of the Regulation of Religion in the Canadian Public Square. by Norman James Fennema BA., University of Alberta, 1990 BA. Hon., University of Alberta, 1991 MA., University of Victoria, 1996 A dissertation submitted in partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Department of History We accept this dissertation as conforming to the required standard. Dr. Ian MaePherson, Supervisor , (Department of History) Dr. I^nne Marks, Departmental Member (Department of History) Dr. Brian Dippie, Departmental Member (Department of History) Dr. John McLaren, Outside Member (Faculty of Law) Dr. DaiddMarshall, External Examiner (Depe&tment of History, University of Calgary) © Norman Fermema, 2003 All rights reserved. This document may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the permission of the author. Supervisor; Dr. Ian MaePherson Abstract The modem Canadian state is secular, but it is not a neutral state. It is a liberal democracy in which the prevailing value system has shifted. The shift has been from a culture in which a commonly held religion was accorded a special place in the development of law and custom, to a culture in which religious pluralism is recognized and an institutionalized secularism obtains. The assumption would be that this would betoken a new tolerance for diversity, and in some ways it does. In other ways, the modem state behaves with an understanding of pluralism that is just as consensus oriented as the Protestant Culture that dominated in Canada until the middle of the twentieth century, and with the same illiberal tendencies. In historical terms, the effect that can be charted is one of repeating hegemonies, where respect for freedom of conscience or religion remains an incomplete ideal.
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