Pastor Henry Hildebrandt from the Church of God in Aylmer, Ontario has been an unwavering voice of discernment throughout the COVID pandemic. Early on, he began to question the governmental response to this virus that forbade his congregation from gathering and worshipping — something he felt they needed more than ever before in unprecedented times.
Despite threats from law enforcement, health bureaucrats and local residents, Pastor Hildebrandt has refused to bow to the powers that be who are attempting to trample his God-given constitutional rights to freedom of assembly and freedom of religion. He has continued to preach, and alongside the support of his congregation, his church has continued to gather and worship.
This dissent has come with hefty repercussions. In May, state sanctioned locks were placed on the church, which forced them to continue their services outdoors. But now, the locks have been removed and the church returned to its rightful owners — the community.
I caught up with Pastor Hildebrandt at the World Wide Freedom Rally to get an update on his situation and discuss the egregious fines he had to pay just to regain access to his church. His message remains unwavering: the jig is up when we stand united.
What do a wrestler, protester, and a teenager have in common? ENORMOUS COVID-19 fines
We’re trying to help as many people as possible fight their COVID violation fines. Every day we receive more and more “Fight the Fines” cases through our online portal at FightTheFines.com. It’s almost impossible to keep up, but we haven’t stopped trying to take on every single one of those tickets. We’re also crowdfunding on that site so we can pay the legal fees associated with fighting each case.
The fines are often much less than the legal fees, but that’s the price we have to pay to stand up for our civil liberties. If you would like to chip in to help us recoup those costs, please click here.
I have three crazy stories for you today.
The first brings two of my biggest passions together: fighting government overreach and professional wrestling.
“Hotshot“ Danny Duggan is a professional wrestler and wrestling promoter. His business depends on travelling from venue to venue and, more importantly, on fans buying tickets to go to his live events. Needless to say, all that is illegal now in every province and territory in Canada.
So Danny got creative — he filmed his wrestling event in a closed facility in full compliance with the existing laws. But someone decided to report Danny’s production through the COVID snitch line, summoning police and bylaw enforcement to issue Danny a $1,300 fine!
Next, we have Chris Schmidt. Chris and his friends recently attended an anti-lockdown protest in Red Deer, Alberta.
They tried to keep to themselves, but that didn’t stop a Segway cop from chasing them down and asking for their information. Chris reluctantly agreed and since he didn’t receive a ticket at the event, he didn’t think much of the interaction.
But wouldn’t you know it, nearly a week later, police showed up at his house to hand him a $1,200 ticket.
Finally, I want to introduce you to the real-life version of the Footloose town: Winkler, Manitoba. Winkler just might be ground zero of heavy-handed COVID enforcement.
That’s where police have been issuing COVID tickets to maskless seniors picking up their prescriptions at the store, fining teenagers for hosting socially distant birthday parties and Christmas carolers singing in a public park.
Winkler is also where the RCMP pulled over Bailey Friesen and his friends for no other reason but to issue each of them a $1,296 COVID fine.
They weren’t speeding, drinking, or doing anything else noteworthy — they were simply driving.
If you get a ticket, make sure you submit your story to FightTheFines.com so we can pair you with one of our excellent civil liberties lawyers.
Despite what our health officials want us to think, pandemics do not override our Charter rights. But to preserve those rights, we have to defend them, especially when they’re actively being trampled on.
If you agree and want to help us continue taking on these cases, please click here or visit FightTheFines.com today.
City looks at bolstering COVID-19 penalties amid weekly protests
[Apparently anti-free speech voices like Councillor Druh Farrell want more repression against freedom fighters trying to exercise their Charter right of freedom of assembly.]
Coun. Farrell said anti-COVID-19 restriction protesters have been ‘intimidating’ nearby businesses, and asked if limits would be placed on the illegal weekly demonstrations at city hall that have attracted several hundred peopleAuthor of the article:Bill KaufmannPublishing date:Dec 08, 2020 • Last Updated 1 day ago • 3 minute read
Hundreds of anti-mask protestors rally outside city hall in Calgary on Saturday, Nov. 21, 2020. PHOTO BY DARREN MAKOWICHUK/POSTMEDIA
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Calgary city council voted Monday to consider increasing fines and to review its mask bylaw, which made wearing masks in public indoor places mandatory as of last Aug. 1.
The review includes the possibility of raising the current $50 fine, an amount Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi said is insufficient.
“Those measures we put in two weeks ago look to be insufficient in bending the (infection) curve,” said Hinshaw.
Also Monday, Coun. Druh Farrell said anti-COVID-19 restriction protesters have been “intimidating” nearby businesses, and asked if limits would be placed on the illegal weekly demonstrations at city hall that have attracted several hundred people.
“I’ve been getting reports from businesses and some of the residents who live in the area that participants in these protests are going into shops, disrupting (them), in order to intimidate customers as well as staff,” Farrell told council.
Calling the demonstrations “plague-spreaders,” Farrell said the behaviour is harming businesses along Stephen Avenue which anti-restriction activists use as a marching route.
“This is happening frequently. Is there a plan to limit the protests and the damage they cause?” she said, adding she’d prefer a short, sharp so-called circuit breaker business lockdown to smother the virus.
Anti-mask protest at Calgary city hall on Saturday, Nov. 28, 2020. Jim Wells/Postmedia
A city bylaw official said peace officers were monitoring the latest protest — as they have in the past — and tickets for those violating a provincial health order, limiting outdoor gatherings to no more than 10 people, are being prepared.
“We have a number of investigations pending from this week’s demonstrations and we anticipate laying more charges,” said Richard Hinse, director of Calgary Community Standards.
“If (businesses) feel threatened, we can get officers there to assist them.”
There will now be more bylaw personnel to do just that, as the city announced Monday its Level 2 Community Peace Officers have been given clearance by the province to enforce public health orders.
“This change means there are now more than 100 peace officers working alongside Calgary Police Service to support the City’s pandemic response in situations where individuals are in blatant violation of the Public Health Act and bylaws,” said Ryan Pleckaitis, Chief Bylaw Officer, Calgary Community Standards.
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Peace officers on Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2020. PHOTO BY DARREN MAKOWICHUK/POSTMEDIA
The protesters contend city and provincial mask-wearing mandates and restrictions on gatherings and business operations violate civil liberties and harm livelihoods. Many of them also allege the impact of COVID-19 — which has led to hospitalizations in Alberta more than tripling in the past month — is vastly exaggerated and that measures to quell it are more damaging than the virus.
The legal group Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms has filed a constitutional challenge to the pandemic restrictions in Alberta and several other provinces.
Its lawyers have said they’ll work to overturn those tickets, which have included penalties of $50 and $1,200 and have been handed out to at least six participants from a Nov. 28 demonstration.
Nenshi, however, condemned the demonstrations as dangerous, while the city and province grapple to contain the virus.
“You have every right to be an idiot but you don’t have the right to crash shopkeepers, scare away people from their stores at this time of year and to expose your children,” he said.
More protests by Walk for Freedom and other like-minded groups are planned for next Saturday.
Church CHARGED $6,000 for DRIVE-IN services; bylaw wait until Media Party leaves to issue tickets
The Church of God, just south of Steinbach, MB, has met the cold rubber of Brian Pallister’s cold boot.
On Sunday, the widely disliked premier dispatched uniformed officers with “Manitoba Justice” emblazoned on their backs to the small church in the countryside.
The Church of God cancelled indoor services this weekend, out of an abundance of caution. Instead, church leadership asked congregants to remain in their vehicles outside, and tune in to 88.5 FM.
Over the radio and in the safety of their cars, churchgoers listened to the weekly sermon. The church’s minister preached to the gathered faithful about the origin of liberty, and that rights pre-exist government and are granted to men by God.
It was a short service, but the way the province saw it, their disobedience could not go unpunished. And punished they were. Over $6,000 dollars in fines were issued to the church and its minister, Tobias Tissen.
Prior to Sunday, Tissen was threatened with 12 months of imprisonment for practicing his religion, in a letter issued by the province.
The RCMP did not decide to arrest Tissen, which is when the Manitoba Health and Manitoba Justice (both departments directly reporting to Premier Pallister’s cabinet) moved in to issue their vindictive punishment.
This comes a week after pollsters announced Brian Pallister is the most disliked premier in Canada, and days after Pallister called every Manitoban who didn’t agree with him “an idiot.”
