Tag Archives: persecution of Christians

B.C. Health Commissar Bonnie Henry Seeks Police Powers to Arrest Christian Churchgoers

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B.C. top doc files to give police power to arrest churchgoers

British Columbia is one of the more open provinces in Canada, and yet it’s also one of the provinces that has come down the hardest on places of worship, as far as COVID-19 restrictions go. It may officially become the most oppressive province in Canada for freedom of religion very soon, if the injunction that Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry is now seeking against a few of the churches who have remained open is granted.

Perhaps that would be more understandable if churches, and other places of worship in B.C., had actually proven to be “super spreaders” as they’ve been treated, except that statistically, that doesn’t seem to be the case.

In a previous report, I showed you a peaceful protest of Catholics worshipping outside in Vancouver. These churchgoers are perplexed as to how all of their parishes (over 70 of them) have been kept closed, when they have been linked to zero COVID cases.

The very minute percentage of the thousands of places of worship in B.C. that have had a COVID case linked to someone who attended services there pales in comparison to other industries and services that have remained open. Like the business of ski hills concentrated in the small tourist hotspot of Whistler, which was recently linked to 547 cases in just over a month.

Dr. Henry’s application for an injunction specifically targets only the Christians connected to the three churches whose names were not anonymized on a petition that was filed on January 7 through the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms. The petition was filed on behalf of some of the churches in B.C. that have tried to remain open while adhering to comprehensive COVID-19 plans, including attendance limits and social distancing.

The injunction Henry is seeking is set to be argued in front of B.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Christopher Hinkson on Friday. If granted, it will not only provide police with the authority to arrest anyone who attends any religious gatherings put on by those three churches — including Riverside Calvary Worship, which has had zero COVID-19 outbreaks, yet was previously fined thousands of dollars for remaining open — but it will also give police the authority to arrest anyone they suspect was going to attend such a service, whether they did so or not.

So, is Dr. Bonnie Henry retaliating against only the churches who made public their opposition to her order?

I interviewed Marty Moore, one of the JCCF’s freedom-defending lawyers who is representing these three churches, shortly after he landed in Vancouver. I got his thoughts on the injunction, and a better understanding of the data Henry uses to try and justify keeping nearly everything open but places of worship.

Click to watch the full report