“Morality Commission” to continue dialogue between Church and State

Patrick Faber

The Prime Minister announced last Friday that the Deputy Prime Minister Patrick Faber is the chair of what was loosely referred to as a morality commission. That name became the butt of the joke. Minister Faber told the media today that it is in fact the Church/State Commission.  The group will look at ways to address heavy issues such as public morality, as well as improve on the relationship between government and the churches.  The first meeting will be held on September twenty-sixth when it is expected that a formal name will be chosen.  According to Faber, the need for the commission arose out of concerns following the Chief Justice’s decision on Section Fifty-three.

Patrick Faber, Deputy Prime Minister

“The main concern coming from the churches in that meeting and in the Friday meeting was that the church felt that it could play a greater role in advising government in giving its views on certain things not limited to any one area.  But you will understand that given the Chief Justice’s ruling and given some of the noise that was in the air at the time that this had to be one of the issues that they saw to be needed first on the agenda of this entity that has been referred to as the morality commission that I choose to use the term in the interim as the Church/State Commission.  And I would hope that we can use that name otherwise from the body once it meets on September twenty-sixth and it comes up with a formal name.  That body as I understand it, is aimed at merely continuing the dialogue to make sure that the dialogue between the church and the state is continuous and that the church always has a conduit to give the government what its views are.  There are many issues, including public morality and that is what I understood it to be and that is certainly what I intend to clarify and to make sure that everyone understands in that meeting on September twenty-sixth that it is perfectly open to listen to the church on its issues that it believes should be considered when the government is making a decision on how to shape our policies and our laws.”