United Church joins opponents of referendum
BC members urged to protest by voiding their ballots

Douglas Todd

Vancouver Sun , April 11, 2002

The United Church of Canada has become the latest religious organization to oppose the B.C. government's treaty referendum, suggesting followers reject their ballots and drop them off at their local congregation for independent counting.

The United Church, which has more than 400,000 nominal adherents in B.C., sent out a message to all its congregations today, recommending church members write "void" across the ballots and send them to the church, after which they'll be collected and tallied by an independent auditor.

The United Church's B.C. Conference head office, located in Burnaby, will eventually deliver the audited count and a sealed box containing all the ballots it collects to the First Nations Summit, which will issue a report on the total results, said Keith Howard, an official with the church.

"For those who feel the referendum ill-advised, we are trying to honour at least the spirit of the democratic process by steering away from any burning or destruction of ballots," Howard said.

Last week, all four bishops of the Anglican church in B.C., which has more than 300,000 nominal members, called on adherents to either vote no to all eight questions on the referendum or to reject their ballot as a form of protest.

Some B.C. native groups have urged boycotting the referendum, with a few aboriginals ceremonially burning the ballots.

This week, an archbishop of the Canadian Orthodox Church, Lazar Puhlo of the Fraser Valley, added his voice to the Christian protest against the referendum, saying it is "immoral" and urging Orthodox Christians to either vote no to all questions or abstain from voting.

The United Church's head office message to its B.C. congregations says the referendum is "not helpful" and "does not allow us to say what we think we should say. Recognizing that people will make up their own minds, we have been asked to provide some guidance to those who may wish to register their concerns in a way that respects the democratic process and maintains the public credibility of our voice."

The B.C. United Church recommends members (and non-members) write "void" across their ballot, insert it in the envelope and seal it, include their signature and check whether their local United Church congregation is operating as a drop-off point, with a sealed box for ballots.

Alternatively, people can send their ballots to the B.C. Conference Office, 4383 Rumble Street, Burnaby, B.C., V5J 2A2.

Back to Top