Representatives of churches in Wheatley, Leamington, Windsor, and Aylmer who have been charged with hosting large gatherings are getting some legal help.
The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) has announced that it will defend several Ontario pastors and church elders charged for holding church services in contravention of the Reopening Ontario Act.
Chatham-Kent police charged two Merlin members of the Old Colony Mennonite Church on Wheatley Road who took responsibility for the two separate gatherings just one day apart after Christmas. The Justice Centre said the Word of Life Mennonite community in Leamington was also targeted by police over the past week and it will contest the charges on the basis that the Act violates the Charter rights of Ontario citizens to peacefully assemble for worship, among other grounds for the challenge. The centre said many Mennonite communities are not active online and do not use much technology and in-person church services are fundamental to their community and way of life.
In Windsor, Pastor Aaron Rock of Harvest Bible Church was charged under the Reopening Ontario Act for holding church services on December 20 while Windsor was in lockdown and limited to gatherings of only ten people indoors. In Aylmer, the Church of God’s drive-in service on Sunday was again the focus of protestors. The Justice Centre also represents the Church of God’s pastor Henry Hildebrandt and his son Herbert Hildebrandt in defending charges that were laid against them for attending peaceful protests against lockdown measures in November.
“Churches are being targeted by both police and vigilante members of the public, who look for church parking lots with vehicles and call in complaints to the police,” said Justice Centre staff lawyer Lisa Bildy. “It’s easy to see how the Stasi in East Germany were able to operate so effectively – it appears it doesn’t take much to turn neighbours into informants, and police into petty tyrants.”
The centre said the Reopening Ontario Act gives the Ford cabinet too much power to continually amend these orders as it sees fit for up to one-year without any debate by the elected legislature. It also said the Act must comply with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees citizens that the government will not infringe their freedoms of peaceful assembly and religion, among other fundamental freedoms. The JCCF said the onus is on government, not citizens, to show that the violation of Charter freedoms is “demonstrably justified” and while some reasonable restrictions may be imposed, governments are required to violate Charter rights and freedoms as little as possible and only to the extent necessary to protect public health.
The Justice Centre added it believes lockdowns are harmful to Canadians, including the ongoing infringement of civil liberties.
“With charges attracting fines of between $10,000 to $100,000, along with the threat of jail time, this is a clear escalation of enforcement, targeted at otherwise law-abiding citizens who believe strongly that attending church is essential to their well-being,” Bildy said. “Many people scoff at those who believe that defending civil liberties is especially critical during government-declared emergencies, as though they are somehow selfish and short-sighted. In fact, it is only through the vigilance and courage of people like these church leaders that we have any hope of remaining a free society. History is replete with examples of authoritarianism being ushered in by a fearful public, and fanning the flames of that fear is a common tactic of such regimes.”
Justice Centre officials will attend multiple first appearances over the next several months on behalf of the churches and their leaders.
