A national campaign to promote December as Christian Heritage Month is getting stonewalled in Alberta.Molly Banerjei, the Indian-born co-founder and CEO of the Christian Music Festival in Toronto, has spearheaded the national effort. Christian Heritage Month proclamations have been made in 35 municipalities in Canada.Banerjei told the Western Standard the Christian faith has contributed to good virtues and traditional Canadian values and deserves the same official acknowledgement as other religions.“There is already a Hindu Heritage Month, already a Sikh Heritage Month, already a Jewish Heritage Month,” Banerjei said in an interview. “We're not looking for any special treatment. We just want us also to be recognized.”Banerjei submitted a request with the protocol department in Edmonton, only to be ignored, then turned down. She is determined to reverse this decision, though December 1 is coming soon.“First they were taking their own sweet time. And then finally, they came back to me, and they said, ‘Your request is religious, and it has been declined.’”Banerjei pointed out other religious heritage months that Edmonton has already proclaimed. She appealed to Mayor Amarjeet Sohi by email, only to be told by his office that the request should go to the protocol department. Banerjei said she had already made a request but the office complained there was no record of it..Banerjei resubmitted the request, but the city protested she had no local partners. Evidently, the bureaucrats had not read the submission, which included Pastor Joel David, who leads the Asian Christian Church in Edmonton, and his contact information.“So, I said to them, ‘Please go through my communication. And if you don't have the time to go through my communication, I'm resending it to you,’” Banerjei recalled.Next, the city complained that Pastor David never contacted them.Banerjei replied, “You didn't ask me that they should contact you. If you want them to contact you, you should tell me, and I will get them to contact you. It's not a problem.”Pastor David emailed a request to the mayor to make the proclamation, along with reasons he should do so. Banerjei followed up with the mayor.“I said, ‘Now you have everything. There are no more excuses. Now do the right thing,’ which was to make a proclamation, and he didn't do it.”Banerjei said she then wrote the mayor and all city councillors to renew her request. She said most ignored her. Councillor Jennifer Rice called back to express concerns with the hassles Banerjei faced and asked for more details..According to Banerjei, Surrey and Calgary have been similarly uncooperative, while correspondence continues with Victoria and Vancouver.Banerjei said she emailed Premier Danielle Smith and saw her at the Calgary Prayer Breakfast on October 17. According to Banerjei, Smith acknowledged receiving the email and was receptive to the idea, but said the file was handed to Immigration Minister Mohammed Yaseen. Smith’s assistant led Banerjei to Yaseen’s table at the breakfast, but he absent. Banerjei later emailed Yaseen but said, “He has refused to respond to me.”Neil Singh, spokesperson for Yaseen's office, emailed Western Standard on Thursday morning to say, "Many organizations have reached out to us with proposals including for Christian Heritage Month. We are currently reviewing this proposal along with many others, no final decision has been made yet."While Alberta has many religious and ethnic heritage months and days, only Pakistani Heritage Month, which is August, has been declared in perpetuity. The declaration was first made in 2018 under the NDP but was only declared permanently in 2023, the same year the Pakistani-born Yaseen became immigration minister.In Alberta, Red Deer, Okotoks, and Cold Lake are proclaiming December as Christian Heritage Month. In Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Regina, and Prince Albert have made the declarations, as have Prince George and Whistler in B.C. Ontario Premier Doug Ford assured Banerjei that his provincial government will do the same.The website ChristianHeritageMonth.ca includes a national petition and has regular updates on progress of the campaign. Banerjei, a Toronto realtor, said she is spending 80 hours a week on the campaign.“This is the work of the Lord, and I believe that this is a moment that we as believers need to seize,” Banerjei said.
