![]() The church’s website says it is open for in-person services on Sunday.ĬORRECTION: The Justice Centre is a non-partisan, public-interest law firm and charity organization specializing in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The church and its elders were brought before the court and, this week, the sentence was delivered. “Risking reputation and financial viability to offer eternal hope and warm Christian fellowship to a world in despair is an act of love that I am certain Jesus smiles on,” Reaume wrote. The church went ahead, two days later, holding a service with more than 200 participants. 22, an Ontario court was unequivocal with an injunction: No more than 10 people were allowed to worship. While the case dates back to services held in December, on Jan. It is signed by several Muslim leaders, as well as representatives from Lutheran, Anglican, Presbyterian, United and Unitarian Christian churches.Īs for Reaume’s church in Waterloo, the fines now total $83,000 for holding services. “This may require certain sacrifices of self and of freedom, but such is the path of love,” the letter says. The Edmonton Interfaith Centre, meanwhile, has argued in a letter to the community that religious citizens should not be following public health orders “begrudgingly and minimally, but willingly and with an overabundance of care.” And, in Calgary, Pastor Tim Stephens, who heads Fairview Baptist Church, held a full in-person church service last Sunday in support of Coates.Īrticle content Trinity Bible Chapel in Waterloo, Ontario, has been ordered to pay tens of thousands of dollars in fines and legal costs for defying Ontario’s COVID-19 restrictions. There have been small protests at Coates’s hearings. government, which had sought an injunction preventing services until the case could be heard. Recently, they won a legal spat against the B.C. “The justification for restriction on assemblies, not just for religious groups, but for everyone, is going to be harder and harder to justify,” he said.Ĭoates is represented by the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, a non-partisan, public-interest law firm and charity organization that is also fighting against restrictions on church services in British Columbia, representing more than a dozen ticketed groups and individuals. While the goal has been to restrict gatherings to protect public health, that could change as vaccines become more available. “That’s not infinite and there are limitations there,” Kinsinger said. ![]() In Canada, Charter freedoms are not absolute - the government can restrict them, but they must justify them, said Kristopher Kinsinger, an Ontario lawyer who’s written for the National Post about churches and restrictions.
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