The Nativity scene on the roof of the main entrance to Terrace City Hall has been nixed this year.
This tradition goes back decades as part of the annual Christmas observance, but the city is evoking a supreme court of Canada decision dating back to 2007 to cancel it.
The decision came after a complaint was received against a city in Quebec for it’s council’s practice of praying prior to their meetings.
The complaint came from an atheist named Allan Simoneau who argued that the prayer was showing favouritism to one religion and was a detriment to other faiths and the court concurred with his thinking.
The Terrace nativity is owned by the knights of Columbus, a catholic charitable group and is normally put up in early December.
But in order to avoid a repeat of the Quebec case, Terrace city officials decided to fore go the seasonal observance.
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