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The Turner Files: Faith, office and the Kelowna ballot
City On A Hill is registering as a third-party sponsor and sending candidate questionnaires to identify nominees who share its Christian convictions.
In the Kelowna municipal election, the third-party sponsor OnTheHill is mobilizing Christian voters with orange signs featuring a verse from the Book of Esther, sorting candidates on the ballot by religion.
The group sent questionnaires to candidates and published a table listing their religions—Christian, Catholic, Sikh, Hindu, and Buddhist Christian—granting 'green check' endorsements to those with shared Christian values.
OnTheHill endorsed Ron Cannan for mayor, and Nikki Csek, Daniel Fritter, and Gord Lovegrove for council, though endorsed candidates gave varied responses on municipal authority over library standards for minors.
Csek supports enforceable library standards, citing Alberta's legislation requiring public libraries keep explicit material from children 15 and under, while Cannan wrote that Kelowna City Hall should respect regional governance.
The Supreme Court of Canada ruled in 2015 that municipal governments have a duty of religious neutrality, prohibiting elected officials from using office powers to compel others to follow specific religious beliefs.