Anti-Christian Discrimination & the Inequitable Application of Law

Even lawyers are perplexed by the inequitable and discriminatory application of COVID-19 laws in Canada.[1] Take for instance, Ontario’s Reopening Ontario Act (ROA), which has been used by Premier Doug Ford to mete out disproportionate punishment on Christian pastors, churches, small businesses, and people who protest restrictions. No other law in provincial history is as discriminatory and innately anti-Christian in its application. While some will argue that the ROA is necessary, and others will find it disagreeable, all must admit that there is no equal application of this law in Ontario. Pastors and churches are especially vulnerable to public rage, and have been subjected to harassment by angry citizens, vandalism, and misreporting by the media. Several churches, ours included, have received hate-fuelled messages, been subjected to repeated visits by police (even when in compliance), surveilled, and chastised by health officials.[2] Many of these disturbing incidents have taken place while officials and citizens attend large-scale illegal gatherings, backed by the mainstream media who appear supportive of politically-correct events.

In my own province, I have personally been charged twice for holding worship services in my church facility, charged once for an outdoor worship service, and charged once for speaking at a peaceful public protest. Ontario churches in Waterloo, Aylmer, and Chatham-Kent have had Court Injunctions placed on them for non-compliance. Church leaders in Windsor, Leamington, Wheatley, Aylmer, Ingersoll, Woodstock, Tillsonburg, Waterloo, Alliston, Toronto, and Peterborough have received tickets or court summones for non-compliance, been subjected to vandalism, threats of having their children taken away, and two have had their churches forcibly locked. In Alberta, Pastors Coates and Stephens were imprisoned for holding church services, while Alberta Premier Jason Kenney wined and dined with his associates, flouting physical distancing guidelines. In Weston, Nova Scotia, twenty-six church members were fined over $11,000 for meeting [3], and in British Columbia, churches in Kelowna, Langley, and Chilliwack have received hefty fines. Under the various provincial laws leading to fines and imprisonments, citizens, media, police, and courts could argue that the fines are necessary to maintain law and order and to mitigate the spread of a dangerous virus. But are they fairly applied?

There is undeniable evidence that these laws are being disproportionately applied to Christian churches, small business owners, and to peaceful protesters that have challenged the ROA and other such laws, while giving politicians and special interest groups a pass. To prove this point, I offer the following evidence of the inequitable application of the law and discrimination across Canada (some of which I previously reported at https://pursuitofglory.org/lockdowns-and-governmental-hypocrisy):

In June 2020, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau violated the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act and participated in an anti-racism (BLM) protest in Ontario without being charged. Alongside London Mayor Ed Holder and Premier Ford[4] Trudeau attended a June 8, 2021 public funeral vigil, reportedly attended by over 15,000 people, to mourn the tragic deaths of a London, Ontario Islamic family. Despite repeated news conferences outlining the deadly threat of the COVID-19 virus, Ford went so far as to amend the law to temporarily permit himself, Holder and Trudeau to attend, while churches experienced severe restrictions. The amendment, found in Schedule 4 of the Reopening Ontario Act states: “Section 1 does not apply with respect to an outdoor vigil held at the London Muslim Mosque in the City of London on June 8, 2021.” It is noteworthy that shortly before the vigil, Trudeau responded to reports of 30,000 people protesting restrictions in Montreal with this rebuke: “The irony here is that by gathering, people are putting each other at risk, spreading further cases of Covid-19”.[5] It would seem that in Trudeau and Ford’s minds, COVID-19 only spreads at Christian funerals, Christian churches, in small businesses, and at protests that challenge their authority.

But these men are not alone. In June 2020, Windsor Police Chief Pam Mizuno along with Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens violated the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act and participated in an anti-racism protest along with an estimated crowd of 2000 people.[6] No charges were laid against them. Several other high-ranking police across the province purportedly did the same. Months later, Dilkens (who also serves as Chair of the Police Services Board) attended a dinner with a total of eight persons, hours after threatening zero tolerance for any violations of regulations that limited people to six per table.[7] In June 2021, Maxime Bernier, leader of the People’s Party of Canada was arrested in Manitoba for violating restrictions. Manitoba’s Premier Brian Pallister, who was caught last year maskless[8] in an airport, had previously threatened Bernier stating, “if Bernier is there he will have to pay and his wallet will be lighter, so he will have to open his wallet’.”[9] In June 2021, Toronto Police provided a small escort behind more than 200 people who participated in a Dyke (lesbian) March on Yonge Street in Toronto. When asked why charges were not laid the Toronto Star reported a Toronto police official saying “We can’t answer that.”[10] In June 2021, media reported multiple Cancel Canada Day protests, attended by hundreds of people, were held in Canadian cities to protest lost Indigenous lives. Strangely, protesters also designated these protests as opportunities to honour “Black, migrant, women and trans lives lost”.[11] And in July 2021, over 10,000 people gathered in London, Ontario to honour the deaths of Indigenous children in Canada’s now defunct Residential School system, far exceeding the legal gathering limit of 25 people outdoors.[12]

Most Canadians, myself included, are supportive of people’s right to attend the aforementioned events, but after months of repeated lockdowns and stay-at-home orders designed to purportedly stop a deadly virus, how can gatherings with thousands upon thousands of people be permitted, while others are imprisoned and fined? Politicians are clearly picking and choosing who must obey the law and who can be excused, and many police departments are engaging in overt discrimination by laying charges against churches.

To be clear, I do support Charter freedoms including the right to peacefully protest, but the inequitable application of COVID laws, and evidence of political opportunism is evident in these occurrences. Officials either turn a blind eye to these blatant violations of the law, openly endorse and participate in mass gatherings, or amend the law in order to accommodate what they deem “politically correct”. This is the very definition of discrimination. How can any thoughtful Canadian, regardless of creed, or political affiliation support discrimination of this magnitude? How can any court of law uphold a charge or injunction against any group or person with full knowledge of this inequity? How can any responsible physician, medical expert, or chief medical officer justify publicly chastising non-compliant churches like ours, but remain silent when thousands of people meet in public? How can the media possibly justify their continued vilification of non-compliant churches and small businesses, but positively report on BLM, gay, Indigenous protests or funeral vigils, all of which have the potential to become “super-spreader” events? Even supporters and attenders of the aforementioned events should – in principle – be supportive of the Church’s right to gather just as I am – in principle – supportive of their right to meet.

Irrefutable Conclusions

There are at least three irrefutable conclusions that explain the duplicity we are witnessing from officials:

1/ The official response to the viral epidemic must be influenced primarily by political considerations, not medical considerations.

2/ We are being governed by corrupt officials who care not for the equitable application of provincial laws or Charter rights.

3/ We are living in an anti-Christian, anti-small business state where opportunists are eager to punish churches and business owners who refuse to support their hypocrisy and overreach.

Not every reader will affirm the actions of non-compliant persons or churches, but every thoughtful reader must admit that our laws are not being applied equally, and that should be of grave concern to everyone. If laws are selectively applied, then there can be no present or future comfort that our province will not descend into tyranny. Political expediency and ideological opportunism is rapidly becoming the de facto law of our land.

The solution?

If Canadians wish to live in a country free of discrimination and tyranny, and the equal application of the law, the following responses are necessary:

1/ Citizens must demand that the elected officials that represent them speak publicly against religious discrimination and the inequitable application of law.

2/ Police officers, as frontline witnesses to violations of the law, must act fairly and apply the law equally to all groups regardless of creed, ideology, or position.

3/ Public officials, including police chiefs, mayors, premiers, the Prime Minister, and health officials must also be charged for each and every violation of provincial law.

4/ Media outlets should report factually and without bias on each and every public violation of the law, without unduly targeting churches.[13]

5/ Courts must take into consideration the inequitable application of provincial laws against churches, the public and blatant violation of it by special interest groups and officials, and dismiss all charges against the accused.

6/ Members of special interest groups, including members of the BLM, Pride, and Indigenous rights movements should publicly defend the rights of other groups to openly meet, even as they have. If they are truly concerned with social justice, they will do so without delay.

7/ Elected Officials that have failed to speak out, or who have been active participants in the discriminatory application of the law, should repent, resign, or never be voted back into office.

8/ Medical officials should recommend reasonable protocols equally, and refuse to buckle to public pressure to chastise some, while turning a blind eye to others.

Conclusion

For a country that often boasts of its commitment to pluralism and equality, and its opposition to hatred and discrimination, Canada has failed miserably. But, through your persistence and advocacy for true equality under the law, we can make a lasting difference to the benefit of all citizens who call Canada home.

And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. 2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. 3 And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ 4 For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’”
(Luke 18:1-5).