Advancing reason, compassion, and secular values together
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Humanist Happenings Keeping You Connected to Humanist Events
December 2025
Welcome to the December Edition of the Humanist Canada Newsletter!
This final newsletter of 2025 is full of ways to reconnect with what Humanism has meant in our lives this year. Inside, you’ll find a powerful new episode of the Choice Chat podcast on abortion, labour, and economic justice; highlights from our Human Light and Winter Gathering celebration; an invitation to get Humanist Canada’s book, Humanism: Canadian Perspectives | Humanisme : Perspectives canadiennes. You’ll also find details about our “New Year, New Will” offer—an exclusive opportunity for members to win a free will from Epilogue Wills.
Over the past year, Humanist conversations have traveled through podcasts, webinars, book clubs, in-person gatherings and our first book; Humanist care has been offered by officiants and chaplains marking life’s most meaningful moments; and Humanist community has flourished in local chapters, national campaigns, and new collaborations in Canada and internationally.
The care, creativity, and commitment of many members, volunteers, officiants, chaplains, partners, board members and local chapters, are what make Humanist Canada’s work possible and meaningful. As 2025 comes to a close, heartfelt thanks to each of you for the many ways you have advanced Humanist values in your communities. We look forward to imagining, creating, and organizing with you in 2026 as we continue working together for a more secular, compassionate, and fair Canadian society.
The Humanist Canada Team
🎙️ The Price of Choice – Abortion – Gender & Social Inequality
In this episode of Choice Chat, host Tara sits down with longtime labour and reproductive justice leaders Carolyn Egan and Tracey Ramsey to unpack how abortion access is deeply tied to economic justice and social inequality in Canada.
Drawing on decades of organizing in unions and community movements, Carolyn and Tracey trace the role of the labour movement in supporting Dr. Henry Morgentaler, winning decriminalization, and continuing to defend access today. They show how abortion is not just a “personal” or “moral” issue, but one that shapes a person’s entire economic future—whether they can finish school, keep a job, afford housing, or support the children they already have.
The conversation also explores:
How unions frame abortion and reproductive health as core workers’ rights issues
The ongoing gaps in access across provinces, especially for people in rural and northern communities
The intersections of race, class, immigration status, Indigeneity, gender and geography in determining who actually gets care
Canada’s shameful and ongoing legacy of forced sterilization, especially of Indigenous women and incarcerated people
Why decriminalization matters—and why many advocates don’t want a new abortion law in Canada
Carolyn and Tracey close with concrete ideas for getting involved: from union women’s committees and campus groups to national organizations and targeted campaigns pushing for real access on the ground.
If you care about economic justice, workers’ rights, or reproductive freedom, this episode will challenge you to see abortion for what it is: essential health care and a cornerstone of equality.
🎧 Listen to the whole episode on Spotify or on our Website and share to engage a conversation.
New Year, New Will: Enter to Win a Free Will
As we get ready to welcome 2026, many of us are thinking about fresh starts and finally taking care of the things that matter. For a lot of people, making a will is one of those important tasks that lingers on the “someday” list. What if this is the year you finally do it?
Humanist Canada is excited to offer members an exclusive opportunity to win a free will from Epilogue Wills. It is our way of helping you step into the new year with clarity, confidence, and peace of mind. Whether you have been meaning to write your first will or update an existing one, this draw could be your moment to begin.
There are two days leftto participate. Winners will be contacted directly on January 1 to redeem their offer before January 14, and will be announced in our January newsletter. Please do not share this offer outside our membership. It is just for you.
If you’d like to meet other Humanists in your area for in‑person activities, thoughtful conversations, and meaningful community events, your local chapter is a great place to start. You’re warmly encouraged to reach out to the chapter closest to you.
If there isn’t one in your region and you’re interested in starting a new chapter, email us at members@humanistcanada.ca; we are here to support you every step of the way. Plan a dinner at a public restaurant, art gallery tour, pub night, any event which interests you!
A 2025 success story of Canadian Humanism
2025 has been a year of real fight for secularism, freedom of conscience and civil rights in Canada.
The British Columbia Humanist Association has been at the forefront of this fight, as both Christian Nationalism and censorship bills under the title of “Hate Speech” are on rise.
We invite you to read Ian Bushfield's Blog Post, “Secular progress against the storm”, on BC Humanist Association’s website.
It gives an overview of the association's 2025 activity and is a proof of how important Humanist organizations are for defending Canada's secular values against obscurantism, both in courts and on the streets.
The 2025 Human Light Celebration and Winter Gathering brought Humanist Canada members together online to honour the winter season through candle lighting, reflection, and shared creativity. Hosted by Chaplain Ian McMillan and Be Ceremonial Co‑founder Megan Sheldon, the event wove together welcoming remarks, a Human Light candle ritual, guided reflections on winter symbolism and language, breakout groups where participants shared meaningful seasonal objects and memories, and community offerings including Craig Barlow’s poem “Humanity’s Rituals,” a humanist reflection on gratitude from Marty Shoemaker, and a musical contribution of “These Three Flames” by Hamed Chemli, before closing with a collective ritual of releasing and carrying forward intentions for the season.
If you haven’t had time to join us live, the session recording is now available on Humanist Canada’s YouTube channel so you can experience the gathering in your own time.
Celebrating a Successful Why Humanism Now Campaign
As we come to the close of 2025, we are filled with gratitude and excitement. Our year-end campaign, Why Humanism Now, set an ambitious goal of raising $20,000 to strengthen Humanist Canada’s work across the country—and thanks to the generosity of our community, we have now reached that goal.
This support empowers us to build community, expand educational programming, and grow spaces for Humanist values to thrive. If you have already made a gift, thank you. If you have not yet had the chance, there is still time to make a charitable donation in the 2025 calendar year—our campaign ends at midnight tonight—and every contribution, of any amount, helps us move into the new year from a place of strength and possibility.
Nous sommes heureux d’annoncer le lancement de « Connection humaniste - Rencontres hebdomadaires » !
🌐 Rejoignez-nous en ligne pour : ✔ Connecter en français avec d’autres humanistes ✔ Rester au courant des dernières nouvelles ✔ Partager vos préoccupations et vos accomplissements ✔ Ou simplement nous dire à quoi vous pensez ces temps-ci
📍 Nos discussions ont lieu chaque mardi, de 19h00 à 20h00 HNE.
📌 Cet événement s'adresse aux membres d'Humanist Canada seulement.
Humanism: Canadian Perspectives | Humanisme : Perspectives canadiennes
Humanist Canada’s first book, Humanism: Canadian Perspectives | Humanisme : Perspectives canadiennes, brings together diverse voices from across the country, with reflections, essays, history, ethics, and poetry that show how Humanism takes shape in Canadian life today.
If you’d like the paperback edition, now is a great time to order your physical copy and add it to your home, office, or community space, and the e-book edition will be launching in just a few days.
You can learn more about the book and purchase your copy through the Humanist Canada website— Thank you to the many of you who helped bring this project to life, and for all that you do to advance Humanist values in your communities.
For just $50 a year, you can become a Humanist Canada member and unlock all the events, perks, and warm fuzzy feelings of supporting humanist values across the country.
Keep track of all our upcoming events and meeting times in one convenient place. There’s always something exciting happening—be sure to stay in the loop!
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