Amazing what a funeral and a federal election can do. For Canadians in 2000, the two events finally pushed religious issues onto the front-page and top story slots.

It's somewhat ironic that in a country where there is no legislated separation of church and state that the population and its journalists should be so squeamish about discussing and displaying religious beliefs in public. Somehow, doing so just isn't polite; and whatever else Canadians are, we're polite.

So what changed minds in 2000?

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