Why this Quebec city walked back its decision to ban religious events in municipal spaces [Video]

Overnight, religious groups in Sherbrooke, Que., went from having access to only a single municipal venue for large gatherings — to all of them.

At a recent city council meeting, members struck down a 2012 policy forbidding the renting of indoor spaces owned by the city for religious purposes in the name of secularism. Those venues were limited to multi-purpose rooms, conference halls, auditoriums, gymnasiums and arenas. 

The news comes as a relief to the region’s Muslim community, whose June holiday celebration plans became overshadowed by a large question mark when the convention centre they’ve relied on for years — the Centre de Foires de Sherbrooke — came under city management.

Despite there being an exemption in the policy applying to the city’s arena — which, at the time the policy was written, was rented by a Jehovah’s Witness group for an annual convention — councillors voted against granting a …