Free Grace Baptist Church on Wellington Avenue – seen here on Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020 – was one of three churches in Chilliwack receiving a total of $18,400 in fines for repeatedly violating provincial public health orders. (Jenna Hauck/ Chilliwack Progress)

LETTER: Right to practise religion is not unlimited

If doing so infringes on the rights of others there may be limits

Are these church groups who insist on holding in-person service during a pandemic really talking about rights?

The Department of Justice summarizes the Canadian rights and freedoms charter protecting fundamental freedoms as follows:

“Everyone in Canada is free to practise any religion or no religion at all…. However, these freedoms are not unlimited. There may be limits on how you express your religious beliefs if your way of doing so would infringe on the rights of others or undermine complex public programs and policies.”

READ MORE: Chilliwack churches fined $18,400 for violating public health orders

READ MORE: Langley church fined second time for ignoring B.C.’s COVID ban on gatherings

We can’t simple make up rights because we don’t like public policies. The programs and policies set out by the government to protect life and health supersedes your desire to congregate right now.

All we need to do is look across the border to the south – rights and freedoms abound, as does COVID-19 and lots of chaos and death.

Judi Chalmer

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