A small town congregation's defiance of COVID-19 public health orders and the community's surveillance of parishioners have created a toxic environment that could come to a head Friday when a judge decides whether to lock the doors of the Church of God in Aylmer, Ont.
WINNIPEG A Manitoba judge is hearing closing arguments in the constitutional court case brought forward by a group of seven churches and three individuals challenging the province’s public health orders. The applicants argue measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 implemented between November 2020 and the present day infringe on Charter rights to hold religious and public gatherings. “There is a darkness choking our society,” Allison Pejovic, a lawyer for the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, argued on behalf of the applicants. Pejovic told the court the applicants have not come to court to deny the existence of COVID-19 or deny it has serious outcomes.
Posted: May 11, 2021 12:04 PM ET | Last Updated: May 11
A protester holds a sign that reads the church must gather during an anti-lockdown demonstration in Waterloo, Ont., on May 9. Three churches in Ontario are challenging the constitutionality of provincial lockdown measures.(Hala Ghonaim/CBC)
WINNIPEG: The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms represents churches and individuals who are challenging government lockdown restrictions in the Court of Queenâs Bench as unjustified violations of the Charter freedoms to associate, worship, and assemble peacefully. The hearing commenced on May 3, 2021 and is continuing this week.
The onus is on the Manitoba Government to justify its restrictions on Charter rights and freedoms as being reasonable, necessary and beneficial.
One of the crucial issues in this trial is the operation and reliability of the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test that is used by governments across Canada, including the Manitoba Government, to diagnose Covid and measure its spread.