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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