Trinity Bible Chapel must show proof of COVID-19 safety plan to have doors unlocked
Trinity Bible Chapel must provide proof of a COVID-19 safety plan to the Ontario government before its doors will be unlocked, a Kitchener judge has ruled.
The church on Lobsinger Line has had its doors ordered locked by an Ontario judge since April 30 for breaking COVID-19 safety protocols.
On Tuesday, the same Kitchener judge, Justice John Krawchenko, ruled indoor services may resume at Trinity Bible Chapel under Step 3 of the province's reopening plan and under certain circumstances.
"To be clear, the respondents shall provide a copy of their safety plan, which is required by law to the applicant, prepared in accordance with this regulation, and provide proof of its posting at the church, at which point the applicant shall cause the locks to be changed to allow the reopening of the church," Krawchenko said at a Zoom hearing.
The applicant in the case is the Crown Attorney for the Ontario government.
Justice Krawchenko also fined the church and its elders for a second round of contempt of court findings.
Trinity Bible Chapel has been ordered to pay $35,000 and Pastor Jacob Reaume $10,000.
Five other church elders were also fined for a total of $40,000.
Will Schuurman was fined $10,000, while Dean Wanders, Randy Frey, Harvey Frey and Daniel Gordon were each fined $7,500.
"The orders that were in place and breached related to compliance with public health and safety in the context of a worldwide pandemic," Krawchenko said. "The conduct of the contemnors exercising their leadership roles individually and as an institution in knowingly breaching the orders was very serious. The breaches were not technical in nature, but flagrant."
A constitutional challenge by Trinity Bible Chapel along with the Church of God in Aylmer and the Wellandport United Reformed Church in Niagara Region is expected to be heard in court this fall.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
For the first time in report's history, Canada's air quality worse than U.S.
Thanks to wildfires, air quality in Canada is now worse than in the U.S., according to the 6th Annual World Air Quality Report.
A newspaper says video of Prince William and Kate should halt royal rumour mill. That's a tall order
Prince William and his wife Catherine have been filmed at a farm shop near their Windsor home, The Sun newspaper reported -- the first footage of Kate since she had abdominal surgery for an unspecified condition two months ago.
'You ask for your money, they disappear': Ontario man loses $17K to AI crypto scam
A Toronto man is spreading the word of a cryptocurrency scam that lures victims using AI-generated news sites after he lost $17,000 in investments.
DEVELOPING Canada's annual inflation rate ticked down to 2.8 per cent in February, defying expectations
Statistics Canada says the annual inflation rate edged down to 2.8 per cent in February.
Hertz CEO out following electric car 'horror show'
The company, which announced in January it was selling 20,000 of the electric vehicles in its fleet, or about a third of the EVs it owned, is now replacing the CEO who helped build up that fleet, giving it the company’s fifth boss in just four years.
High thoughts: The habits of Canadian cannabis users are revealed in a new StatCan report
Statistics Canada has conducted a series of surveys to measure the impacts of legalized cannabis since the Cannabis Act took effect in 2018. The latest one, the 2023 National Cannabis Survey, sheds light on users' preferences and habits last year.
Demand soars for solar eclipse glasses in Canada. Are they worth buying?
The demand for total solar eclipse glasses used to safely view the rare celestial event has been ramping up as sellers, along with astronomy and eye-care experts in Canada, warn that viewing the eclipse with the naked eye is dangerous.
Trump says Jews who vote for Democrats 'hate Israel' and their religion
Former U.S. president Donald Trump on Monday charged that Jews who vote for Democrats 'hate Israel' and hate 'their religion,' igniting a firestorm of criticism from the White House and Jewish leaders.
Toronto family doctor who called patient's body 'perfect' suspended for 3 months: tribunal
A family doctor in Toronto has been suspended for three months after a disciplinary tribunal found that he failed to follow proper protocols while examining a patient's breasts and made inappropriate comments about her body.