A legal advocate group questions the British Columbia government’s COVID-19 restrictions on worship services and public protests, arguing that they violate people’s rights and freedoms.
A petition by the Justice Center for Constitutional Freedoms is also asking the British Columbia Supreme Court to refuse tickets worth up to $ 2,300 for alleged public health violations.
The Calgary-based organization claims to represent over a dozen individuals and faith communities.
The challenge is based on several sections of the Charter, including freedom of conscience and religion and freedom of peaceful assembly.
The British Columbia Department of Health could not be reached immediately for comment.
A press release from the center said that while the government allows hundreds to gather in large stores, attending church services is prohibited, despite groups making extraordinary efforts to follow the guidelines of provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry, adhere to.
It is said that allowing people to congregate is essential to the spiritual and emotional well-being of many people who go to churches, synagogues, mosques, temples, or other places of worship.
“Affidavits have been submitted demonstrating the negative effect the ban on face-to-face meetings has had on individuals, including loneliness, depression, anxiety and fear,” the center’s statement said.
The center says the petition requires the court to weigh up whether the British Columbia government has struck a legally permissible balance between public health goals and the rights of Canadians.
“Dr. Bonnie Henry’s undemocratic orders, which restrict and even prohibit the exercise of the fundamental freedoms of citizens, show a disregard for the protection of the Constitution of Canada,” said Marty Moore, lawyer for the center, in the press release. “This legal challenge requires the British Columbia government to respond to these divisive and discriminatory orders.”
The Canadian press
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