Drawing on case studies from across the country, this book explores three important axes of religiously based contention in Canada. Early on, there were the denominational distinctions between Catholics and Protestants that shaped party oppositions. Since the 1960s, a newly politicized divide opened between religious conservatives and political reformers. Then from the 1990s on, sporadic controversy has centred on the recognition of non-Christian religious minority rights. Although the extent of partisan engagement with each of these sources of conflict has varied across time and region, this book shows that religion still matters in shaping party politics .

This detailed look at the play of religiously based conflict and accommodation in Canada fills a large gap and pulls us back from overly simplified comparisons with the United States. More broadly, this book also compares the role of faith in politics in Canada to that of other Western industrialized societies.