Event Recap: Open Doors presentation to Canadian Parliamentarians in Ottawa

“Freedom of religion is the canary in the mineshaft. If freedom of religion is doing well, all other freedoms are doing well.”

That was the Honourable John McKay’s assessment of the importance of religious freedom at the 2023 World Watch List Parliamentary event on March 8.

Mr. McKay, Member of Parliament for Scarborough-Guildwood since 1997, was the co-sponsor of this year’s event along with Ms. Kelly Block, MP for Carlton Trail-Eagle Creek since 2008. Ms. Block encouraged her parliamentary colleagues to consider the importance of religious freedom on a social, economic, and financial level: “The value added to the global community is that free people are often happier people.”

The Open Doors World Watch List presentation for Parliamentarians has been an annual event since 2019. This year, we were pleased to return to Ottawa in person after online events in 2021 and 2022.

The Hon. John McKay, co-host, was among those to offer comments on religious freedom.

In the weeks leading up to the event we asked you, our supporters, to invite your MP to join us. Many of you did exactly that and it led to a great turnout: 14 Members of Parliament from different political parties attended in person, with several others represented by staff. In total, the event was attended by 40 individuals.

Open Doors Canada presented the research behind the 2023 World Watch List, highlighting the importance of supporting religious freedom around the world and strengthening the persecuted church. The event included comments from Mr. McKay and Ms. Block; a talk from Dr. David Guretzki, president of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada; and words from Rev. Paul Estabrooks of Open Doors and Rev. Gary Stagg, executive director of ODC. We also had Helene Fisher, Open Doors gender persecution expert, talk via video about the struggles that Christian women face. There was also a Q&A time and good conversation with the MPs both before and afterwards.

Open Doors Canada is thankful for the chance to hold this event, and grateful to Mr. McKay and Ms. Block for their co-sponsorship. It was a great opportunity to inform our lawmakers about the importance of standing for freedom for our persecuted brothers and sisters. We are already anticipating next year’s event!