One of the pastors challenging pandemic bans on in-person worship is expressing disappointment the Supreme Court of Canada will not hear his case. The top court also announced on Aug. 10 that it won’t hear similar appeals from three churches in British Columbia.
“The Supreme Court refuses to even hear our case, which directly affects freedom of religion, assembly, and speech in Canada. … Not entirely surprising, but very disappointing.”
Mr. Hildebrandt’s church and Trinity Bible Chapel in Waterloo had challenged Ontario’s pandemic restrictions on constitutional grounds. They argued restrictions on gatherings infringed on the right to freedom of conscience, religion, expression, and peaceful assembly.
However, they lost at both Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice and Court of Appeal, with the courts ruling that church restrictions were a justifiable infringement on Canadians’ freedom of religion.
In May, the churches filed an application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court. The highest court’s refusal to hear the case means the appeal process is over.
The JCCF said Mr. Hildebrandt’s church initially gained the attention of police for holding drive-in services. The church was subsequently ordered to pay $274,000 in fines and costs for violating gathering limits, including three outdoor services held in May and June of 2021.
Trinity Bible Chapel was also hit with fines totalling hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to the JCCF, while parishioners were forcibly locked out of their church for several months.
The JCCF said the churches had to abide by a 10-person limit while necessary retail stores were allowed 50 percent capacity with physical distancing. Necessary retail included big box stores like Walmart because they offered groceries.
As for the B.C. cases, the churches had challenged the province’s total ban on in-person worship from November 2020 to May 2021. The ban was in place while gyms and restaurants were allowed to be open, provided they followed COVID regulations.
“We are disappointed,” said JCCF lawyer Marty Moore in the statement, adding that the churches will continue to assert their other legal and constitutional rights, since they still face prosecution over in-person services in 2020 and 2021.
Mr. Moore said among their arguments is that the Provincial Health Officer abused her discretion “in selectively permitting and prohibiting in-person gatherings.”
According to Blacklock’s Reporter, all provinces enforced temporary restrictions on public gatherings, including services, weddings, and funerals.
“The pandemic’s presence in Manitoba demanded decisive action in order to reduce the spread of the virus and in order to flatten the curve,” wrote Chief Justice Glenn Joyal of Court of King’s Bench. “Manitoba is not exaggerating when they state lives were at stake.”
The Department of Public Safety, from the first weeks of the pandemic, issued “Guidance On Essential Services And Functions In Canada,” excluding spiritual leaders from its list of occupations considered essential. On March 30, 2020, the Conference of Catholic Bishops joined Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim leaders in issuing a “Message To Canadians,” urging people to “rightly heed the precautions of physical distancing,” according to Blacklock’s.
