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CBC - Tony Blair says religion has a place in politics but can't set policy

Published: 12 November 2010

Religion must have a place in politics, even in avowedly secular states, but it should also be kept in its place, former British prime minister Tony Blair told a Montreal audience yesterday.

"It's not that religious people should dictate policy, but they should have the right to speak in the public sphere," he said. "The question is how to do that in a way that doesn't go to the other extreme -people of religious faith trying to dictate."

Blair was in town to mark the participation of McGill University in the Faith and Globalization initiative launched by a foundation he established after retiring as PM three years ago after a decade in office. Its declared purpose is to educate a new generation of business, political and faith leaders in better understanding the role of faith in today's globalized world and to generate new research to apply this to specific, real-world global issues.

McGill, through its religious studies program, is one of a select group of universities around the world invited to participate in the initiative. Blair addressed a downtown gathering of McGill students and invited guests. Earlier in the day, he spoke to a McGill religious studies class and met with Premier Jean Charest at his Montreal office.

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