Sherbrooke: Knights of Columbus Council
Could Lose Funding
Sherbrooke organizations will no longer be funded, as of October 2023, by their municipality if they do not adhere
to the principle of "religious neutrality".
For Pierre Côté, the Grand Knight of Knights of Columbus Council 8053, this condition is simply not acceptable. And he made his discontent known on Monday, March 28 in the daily La Tribune.
"Because we are, for the City of Sherbrooke, a religious organization, we will no longer be entitled to a room to hold our meetings and activities," he repeats, two days later, to the news agency Présence.
"We have been recognized by the municipal authorities for forty years. For forty years, we have received letters of thanks from the authorities for all the services we provide to the population. And see what we get today," he says. The group fears losing access to the space it uses for free in a community centre in the City of Sherbrooke.
Municipal politicsIn 2019, this municipality adopted an "eligibility policy for organizations" that enacts "all the rules surrounding the attribution, maintenance or termination of the status of admitted organization". By obtaining "admitted" status, non-profit organizations obtain professional, logistical and financial support from the municipality. All groups have until October 2023 to apply for eligibility.
"Some organizations no longer correspond to the contemporary criteria updated in 2019," says the Communications Department of the City of Sherbrooke. The municipality gave them three years to "adjust and meet the criteria or find other mechanisms."
Knights of Columbus Council 8053 is one of those groups that risk losing its status as an "admitted" organization if they do not meet seven criteria or conditions, such as good governance, the prohibition of any political or religious promotion, the presence of a head office in Sherbrooke and the provision of quality services.
Two criteria not metFor the City of Sherbrooke, the local Knights of Columbus council does not meet two mandatory criteria – and this has nothing to do with religious neutrality or the organization's ties to the Catholic Church, it was learned.
These two criteria are rather its "legal constitution" as well as its inability to adhere to one of the "collaborative principles" set out in municipal policy, namely "accessibility to the entire population without discrimination".
For the first criterion, it is explained that any organization "must be duly constituted" under one of the three Quebec or Canadian laws that govern non-profit organizations. The problem is that, unlike all Community organizations in Quebec, the fraternal order has its own incorporation law, assented to on February 12, 1953. This is the Act respecting the Knights of Columbus of the Province of Quebec. The legal advisors of the City of Sherbrooke and the Knights of Columbus will undoubtedly be able to iron out this legal subtlety, believe all observers consulted by Presence.
The second criterion that the movement would not meet is part of a series of major "collaborative principles" that all funded organizations must commit to. Organizations are required to be politically or religiously neutral, that their governance be transparent, and that their activities be "accessible to the entire population without discrimination." It is precisely this last point that the municipal leaders raised with the leaders of the group, assures the Communications Department of the municipality.
"What's the problem, then?" says Grand Knight Pierre Côté, questioned again after Présence obtained information from the Communications Department of the City of Sherbrooke.
"Everyone has always been able to participate in our activities, there is no discrimination, there has never been. Never," he fumes. He cites the annual guignolée, the donation of school bags, financial assistance to families and so many other activities organized
by the local Knights of Columbus council.
MembershipRichard Paratte, the state deputy of the Knights of Columbus, the highest ranking of the Quebec knights, understood the dispute very differently. Asked to comment on this local case, the leader of all the knights of Quebec specifies that "the reason given by the city is that the movement of the Knights of Columbus is masculine and Catholic". Women are not admitted as official members, as are non-Catholics.
The state deputy readily acknowledges that, since the founding of the movement, "to be a member of the Knights of Columbus, there are three very simple conditions," which he quotes in one stroke, namely "18 years, man and Catholic."
"Our membership rules would be restrictive, according to the City of Sherbrooke," laments Richard Paratte today. "They would be discriminatory when compared to other social groups like the Optimist and Kiwanis clubs."
The state deputy recalls that his movement was born in the United States 140 years ago, at a time when groups were not mixed. "If we had been founded yesterday, I believe that our membership would be different. But we date from 1882. We can't be blamed for that."
He says city staff have even suggested that the Knights of Columbus change their admission rules. "Changing the Knights of Columbus Charter? It would be easier to repatriate the Canadian constitution than to change the charter of an
organization that is present around the world," he says.
"I will never live old enough to see this."
A firstFor Richard Paratte, Sherbrooke is the very first municipality to adopt a by-law that examines
the membership of the groups to which it offers services.
"If there had been others, it is certain that our members would have quickly informed us of the situation," says the state deputy.
"What worries us in all this is that the policy of the City of Sherbrooke is imitated elsewhere," he says.
to the principle of "religious neutrality".
For Pierre Côté, the Grand Knight of Knights of Columbus Council 8053, this condition is simply not acceptable. And he made his discontent known on Monday, March 28 in the daily La Tribune.
"Because we are, for the City of Sherbrooke, a religious organization, we will no longer be entitled to a room to hold our meetings and activities," he repeats, two days later, to the news agency Présence.
"We have been recognized by the municipal authorities for forty years. For forty years, we have received letters of thanks from the authorities for all the services we provide to the population. And see what we get today," he says. The group fears losing access to the space it uses for free in a community centre in the City of Sherbrooke.
Municipal politicsIn 2019, this municipality adopted an "eligibility policy for organizations" that enacts "all the rules surrounding the attribution, maintenance or termination of the status of admitted organization". By obtaining "admitted" status, non-profit organizations obtain professional, logistical and financial support from the municipality. All groups have until October 2023 to apply for eligibility.
"Some organizations no longer correspond to the contemporary criteria updated in 2019," says the Communications Department of the City of Sherbrooke. The municipality gave them three years to "adjust and meet the criteria or find other mechanisms."
Knights of Columbus Council 8053 is one of those groups that risk losing its status as an "admitted" organization if they do not meet seven criteria or conditions, such as good governance, the prohibition of any political or religious promotion, the presence of a head office in Sherbrooke and the provision of quality services.
Two criteria not metFor the City of Sherbrooke, the local Knights of Columbus council does not meet two mandatory criteria – and this has nothing to do with religious neutrality or the organization's ties to the Catholic Church, it was learned.
These two criteria are rather its "legal constitution" as well as its inability to adhere to one of the "collaborative principles" set out in municipal policy, namely "accessibility to the entire population without discrimination".
For the first criterion, it is explained that any organization "must be duly constituted" under one of the three Quebec or Canadian laws that govern non-profit organizations. The problem is that, unlike all Community organizations in Quebec, the fraternal order has its own incorporation law, assented to on February 12, 1953. This is the Act respecting the Knights of Columbus of the Province of Quebec. The legal advisors of the City of Sherbrooke and the Knights of Columbus will undoubtedly be able to iron out this legal subtlety, believe all observers consulted by Presence.
The second criterion that the movement would not meet is part of a series of major "collaborative principles" that all funded organizations must commit to. Organizations are required to be politically or religiously neutral, that their governance be transparent, and that their activities be "accessible to the entire population without discrimination." It is precisely this last point that the municipal leaders raised with the leaders of the group, assures the Communications Department of the municipality.
"What's the problem, then?" says Grand Knight Pierre Côté, questioned again after Présence obtained information from the Communications Department of the City of Sherbrooke.
"Everyone has always been able to participate in our activities, there is no discrimination, there has never been. Never," he fumes. He cites the annual guignolée, the donation of school bags, financial assistance to families and so many other activities organized
by the local Knights of Columbus council.
MembershipRichard Paratte, the state deputy of the Knights of Columbus, the highest ranking of the Quebec knights, understood the dispute very differently. Asked to comment on this local case, the leader of all the knights of Quebec specifies that "the reason given by the city is that the movement of the Knights of Columbus is masculine and Catholic". Women are not admitted as official members, as are non-Catholics.
The state deputy readily acknowledges that, since the founding of the movement, "to be a member of the Knights of Columbus, there are three very simple conditions," which he quotes in one stroke, namely "18 years, man and Catholic."
"Our membership rules would be restrictive, according to the City of Sherbrooke," laments Richard Paratte today. "They would be discriminatory when compared to other social groups like the Optimist and Kiwanis clubs."
The state deputy recalls that his movement was born in the United States 140 years ago, at a time when groups were not mixed. "If we had been founded yesterday, I believe that our membership would be different. But we date from 1882. We can't be blamed for that."
He says city staff have even suggested that the Knights of Columbus change their admission rules. "Changing the Knights of Columbus Charter? It would be easier to repatriate the Canadian constitution than to change the charter of an
organization that is present around the world," he says.
"I will never live old enough to see this."
A firstFor Richard Paratte, Sherbrooke is the very first municipality to adopt a by-law that examines
the membership of the groups to which it offers services.
"If there had been others, it is certain that our members would have quickly informed us of the situation," says the state deputy.
"What worries us in all this is that the policy of the City of Sherbrooke is imitated elsewhere," he says.
François Gloutnay
religious information
Sherbrooke: Knights of Columbus Council Could Lose Funding (presence-info.ca)
religious information
Sherbrooke: Knights of Columbus Council Could Lose Funding (presence-info.ca)