User:Dragfyre/Sandbox/Bahá'í Faith in Canada

The introduction of the Bahá’í Faith in Canada dates back to 1898 when Edith Magee, a youth from London, Ontario, became the first Canadian member of the Bahá’í Faith. The first Bahá’í group was formed by May and William Sutherland Maxwell in Montreal in 1902. Today, the Canadian Bahá'í community consists of some 30,000 members living in approximately 1200 communities throughout the 13 Canadian Provinces and Territories. Main population centres in Canada include Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary and Edmonton. The Canadian Bahá'í community is a diverse one composed of people of many backgrounds: English and French Canadians, First Nations and Inuit people, as well as immigrants and refugees from other countries.

Early beginnings
The Canadian community is one of the earliest western communities, at one point sharing a joint National Spiritual Assembly with the United States, and is a co-recipient of `Abdu'l-Bahá's Tablets of the Divine Plan. The first North American woman to declare herself a Bahá'í was Mrs. Kate C. Ives, of Canadian ancestry, though not living in Canada at the time. Moojan Momen, in reviewing "The Origins of the Bahá'í Community of Canada, 1898–1948" notes that "the Magee family... are credited with bringing the Bahá'í Faith to Canada. Edith Magee became a Bahá'í in 1898 in Chicago and returned to her home in London, Ontario, where four other female members of her family became Bahá'ís. This predominance of women converts became a feature of the Canadian Bahá'í community..."

The first North American woman to declare herself a Bahá’í was Mrs. Kate C. Ives, of Canadian ancestry, though not living in Canada at the time. The honor of being the first Canadian to accept the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh fell to Edith Magee, a young woman living in London, Ontario, in 1898. Shortly thereafter, in 1902, the first Canadian Bahá’í group was formed in Montreal by May and William Maxwell.

William Sutherland Maxwell was a well-known Canadian architect. He designed such Canadian landmarks as the Château Frontenac Tower in Quebec City, the Legislative Assembly Building in Regina, as well as the Museum of Fine Arts, the Church of the Messiah, and many fine residences in Montreal. His wife, May Maxwell, was one of the early Western Bahá’ís when William Sutherland Maxwell met her in Paris in the 1890s. Their daughter, Mary Maxwell, was later to take the name Rúḥíyyih Khánum upon her marriage to the Guardian, Shoghi Effendi.

In 1912, the small band of believers that formed around the Maxwells had the honor of receiving ‘Abdu’l-Bahá during his tour of North America. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá's addresses at the Church of the Messiah and St. James Methodist Church, at the Trades Union headquarters on St. Lawrence Street, and at the Maxwell's home on Pine Avenue attracted widespread attention from both the press and the public. His talks touched on subjects of economic justice, world peace, and social cohesion. The Maxwell home where ‘Abdu’l-Bahá stayed is today the only Bahá’í Shrine in the western hemisphere.

Following ‘Abdu’l-Bahá's visit to Canada, one by one, small Bahá’í communities took root in major urban centres and then in towns and villages throughout the country. Today, there are over 260 organized Bahá’í communities in all parts of Canada, with elected administrative institutions, called Local Spiritual Assemblies, supporting them. Bahá’ís live in 1200 localities in Canada. Membership represents a cross-section of Canada's population in general, although nearly one-sixth of the elected Assemblies are on Indian reserves.

Among the Canadians that were attracted to the Bahá’í Faith in its first few decades here were Montreal industrialist Siegfried Schopflocher, prominent Toronto business executive John Robarts, and Royal Ontario Museum curator George Spendlove.

Canada in the Divine Plan
'Abdu'l-Bahá wrote of His travels to Canada in The Tablets of the Divine Plan, encouraging the Canadian believers to arise and contribute to fulfilling the goals of the Divine Plan through pioneering, and stating that "the future of Canada, whether from a material or a spiritual standpoint, is very great. Day by day civilization and freedom shall increase. The clouds of the Kingdom will water the seeds of guidance which have been sown there." He particularly expressed His hope that "in the future Montreal may become so stirred, that the melody of the Kingdom may travel to all parts of the world from that Dominion and the breaths of the Holy Spirit may spread from that centre to the East and the West of America." In one of the Tablets, addressed to the Bahá'ís of Canada and Greenland, He exhorted the believers to "become self-sacrificing and like unto the candles of guidance become ignited," urging them to promote the divine teachings in the provinces of Canada, "such as Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, Ungava, Keewatin, Mackenzie, Yukon, and the Franklin Islands in the Arctic Circle".

Inhabitants of Northern Canada
'Abdu'l-Bahá made specific mention of the Inuit ("eskimo") people, expressing His wish that "the call of the Kingdom may reach the ears of the... inhabitants of the Islands of Franklin in the north of Canada", and exhorting the believers to expend "the utmost effort" in bringing the divine teachings to the North. "Should you display an effort," He writes, "so that the fragrances of God may be diffused among the Eskimos, its effect will be very great and far-reaching." , specifically asking that teachers be dispatched to "the home of the Eskimos". Of the effect that would result from teaching the inhabitants of Northern Canada, 'Abdu'l-Bahá asserted that

"...if the hearts be touched with the heat of the love of God, that territory [Northern Canada and Greenland] will become a divine rose garden and a heavenly paradise, and the souls, even as fruitful trees, will acquire the utmost freshness and beauty. Effort, the utmost effort, is required. Should you display an effort, so that the fragrances of God may be diffused among the Eskimos, its effect will be very great and far-reaching. God says in the great Qur’án: A day will come wherein the lights of unity will enlighten all the world. 'The earth will be irradiated with the light of its Lord.' In other words, the earth will become illumined with the light of God. That light is the light of unity. 'There is no God but God.' The continent and the islands of Eskimos are also parts of this earth. They must similarly receive a portion of the bestowals of the Most Great Guidance."

Modern community
Statistics Canada reports 14,730 Bahá'ís from 1991 census data and 18,020 in those of 2001. However the Association of Religion Data Archives (relying on World Christian Encyclopedia) estimated almost 46,600 Bahá'ís in 2005.