Tell your MP and Senators to ban mutilating surgery for gender-confused children
CALGARY, Alberta (LifeSiteNews) — Trespassing charges against a Calgary pastor for silently praying in a municipal building have been dismissed.
On February 5, the City of Calgary dismissed bylaw charges against Calgary pastor Pastor Derek Reimer for praying silently in the City of Calgary Municipal Complex, according to the Democracy Fund (TDF), a pro-freedom legal organization that was challenging the constitutional validity of the charges.
“Since when do you need to seek permission from a city bureaucrat to pray in public?” TDF’s litigation director, Alan Honner, who represented Reimer, questioned in a press release.
“How could any government justify that?” he added.
However, the constitutional notice will no longer be heard since all charges have been dropped ahead of Reimer’s scheduled hearing.
Reimer’s legal battle began on March 14, 2023, after he was approached by four police officers and two security guards as he silently prayed with his back to a wall in the hallway of the municipal complex along with four other individuals.
Reimer, the pastor of MISSION7, a Christian worship organization that focuses on outreach to the homeless of Calgary, was issued a trespass notice for allegedly holding a religious event inside the municipal complex without a permit, which contradicts Bylaw 38M2012.
In response, TDF filed a notice challenging the constitutional validity of charges. The notice, filed on December 8 (the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception), pointed out that Reimer was not holding an event but silently praying in public, an act that is protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
“If Reimer’s actions of silently praying constitute a religious event, the violation ticket cannot stand because it is based upon a bylaw and state conduct that infringe the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, specifically the right to freedom of religion,” TDF said.
“This limitation to Reimer’s constitutional rights, specifically freedom of religion, cannot be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society,” the release continued. “The prosecution against him should be stayed under s. 24(1) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.”
This is hardly the first time Reimer has been targeted for his Christian beliefs. In February, Reimer was forcibly removed from a public library after protesting at a “drag queen story time” event targeting children, at which he said “homosexuality is a sin.”
He was later arrested in March before being released on bail for protesting the event. Reimer was arrested again that same month after appearing to breach his bail conditions by protesting a new Calgary bylaw that bans demonstrations against “drag queen story time” or other so-called LGBTQ events at public facilities.
In April, his van was vandalized with an anti-Christian message and a satanic symbol while Reimer was in jail for yet another arrest related to his pro-family activism.
Additionally, Calgary has become increasingly hostile to Christians, passing bylaws restricting pro-life and pro-family activism.
In May, Calgary passed a motion to sharply restrict pro-life flyers with images of aborted babies. Under the new rule, flyers that have graphic images of aborted babies, or “fetuses,” as it says, “must be concealed in an opaque envelope, with a graphic content warning, and include the name and address of the sender, when delivered to homes.”
Additionally, the Calgary City Council passed a bylaw going after those who want to protest “drag queen story hours” targeting children.
Calgary’s new “Safe and Inclusive Access Bylaw” disallows “specified protests” both inside and outside all city-owned and affiliated public buildings.
The bylaw means pastors or concerned parents who wish to protest against pro-LGBT events at public buildings will be barred from 100 meters of any such location.
Those who are found guilty of breaking the new rules, which went into effect immediately, could face fines of up to $10,000 and one year in jail.
Tell your MP and Senators to ban mutilating surgery for gender-confused children