STEINBACH, Manitoba, December 1, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – A CA$5,000 fine given for holding in-person church services last weekend did not stop a Canadian church located in central Canada from defying COVID-19 restrictions again Sunday by holding a drive-in service. The service ultimately had to take place on the road due to police blocking access to the church’s parking lot.
Located just on the outskirts of Steinbach in the Canadian province of Manitoba, the Church of God Steinbach’s “illegal” drive-in church service turned into a media spectacle.
Despite the police blockade of the parking lot, the pastor of the church, Tobias Tissen, forged ahead with the planned service, but had to do so from the side of the highway with a loudspeaker in the back of a truck. He used the church’s Facebook page to give updates to his parishioners.
“The property is now being barricaded by police. We look forward to your support here shortly,” wrote Tissen on Facebook.
According to a local CBC media report, over 100 cars were lined up on the highway leading to the church.
Tissen said in the CBC report of the event that he and his congregants “were proud” to stand for religious freedom, and that “we’re all one human family and we’re made to come together to worship.”
“Being alone at home and watching a virtual service does not replace worship,” he added.
The Church of God Steinbach in advance had announced their planned Sunday service on Facebook, stating, “We will be holding a drive-in worship service tomorrow morning at 9:30, God willing. Yesterday evening, the Manitoba government deemed drive-in services to be illegal. This worship service will be held in protest of these tyrannical edicts.”
The Christian community promised their drive-in service would be “safe” and not like parking lots at huge stores. “Tomorrow morning we will have the safest parking lot in Manitoba. Keep your windows rolled up and stay in your vehicles.”
“This won’t be like the parking lots of Costco, Walmart, and the government-owned liquor stores where people freely mingle. Make no mistake, this is not about a virus.”
Sgt. Paul Manaigre of the local RCMP detachment said that people were given the option of either defying the law to enter the church parking lot for the service, combined with having to pay a hefty CA$1,296 fine, or leaving the property. At least one person was issued a fine after forging ahead to the parking lot.
“Violating public health orders is an offence. These orders are in place for everyone’s safety. All citizens of Manitoba are directed not to congregate, and those directions supersede all other acts at this time. Please stay safe and stay home,” said Manaigre as reported in the CBC.
The Steinbach area Church of God was slapped just last week with a CA$5,000 fine for defying public health orders after they held an in-person service with over 100 people in attendance.
Tissen himself received two fines of $1,296 each for attending a protest and attending his church service, saying to those who ticketed him that “something does not make sense” about him receiving tickets.
“Do you all realize that something doesn’t make sense here, that we’re talking about the constitution and you’re completely overriding it, do you realize that? Since when [do] mandates like these have more power and authority than the constitution that was written for the protection of Canadians?” asked Tissen in a video posted to the YouTube page of Pastor Henry Hildebrandt of the Aylmer Church of God on November 23.
“I just hope that when you all leave, once this is said and done, that you think about that, you’re enforcing something that goes against the constitution, please think about it.”
Hildebrandt himself was recently issued a ticket for attending an anti-lockdown protest in London, Ontario.
PETITION UPDATE (2/25/2021) -
Not only has the federal Senate in Canada not come to the aid of vulnerable people threatened by the passage of Euthanasia Bill C-7, they have actually voted to make matters worse by EXPANDING provision of euthanasia beyond what C-7 had originally intended.
The bill will now go back to Parliament, where the Senate's amendments can be accepted or rejected.
Please READ LifeSiteNews' analysis of the Trudeau Liberals' latest salvo in their all-out push to expand euthanasia in Canada: https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/canada-senate-passes-euthanasia-bill-expanding-categories-of-the-killable
Then, please SIGN and SHARE this petition. Thank you.
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PETITION UPDATE (12/9/2020)
On December 3, 2020, the Concurrence at report stage of Bill C-7 passed with 213 yeas and 103 nays, with a total of 316 votes.
Bill C-7 would expand already existing provisions for assisted suicide. It would "repeal the provision that requires a person’s natural death be reasonably foreseeable."
The Bill is currently in its Third Reading in the House of Commons and will move on to the Senate if it passes.
We are obliged to help people who are suffering, especially the vulnerable, and that’s why we must oppose Bill C-7.
Please SIGN and SHARE this urgent petition. Then, please contact your MP and tell them to vote NO on Bill C-7. You can find your MP and their contact information HERE.
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We are obliged to help people who are suffering, not kill them.
But, that's exactly what the existing euthanasia law - the so-called "medical assistance in dying (MAiD)" provision - allows.
And, right now, the Trudeau Liberals are pushing for making death even more accessible to our most vulnerable citizens by tabling Bill C-7 in Parliament.
Please SIGN this petition and call for Canada's Members of Parliament to REJECT more euthanasia in Bill C-7, and, instead, provide for more homecare, palliative care, and mental health support.
Bill C-7 would expand existing provisions for assisted-suicide by removing the requirement that a person's natural death be reasonably foreseeable to qualify for MAiD.
Simply put: under C-7, people who are not terminally ill can be killed by MAiD!
This is outrageous, as it puts people with disabilities, the elderly, the young, and those who cannot consent (if they had already agreed to MAiD) at serious risk.
Please CLICK HERE to learn more about Bill C-7 and how it would put those vulnerable people more at risk, and allow for more death and more killing.
Then, please SIGN and SHARE this urgent petition.
Our elected Members of Parliament should be discussing how to help our disabled, elderly and young people with greater provision for homecare, palliative care, and mental health support, rather than encouraging our most vulnerable to kill themselves with our government's help and endorsement.
Nothing could be more foul and malicious.
And, while it's true that Trudeau's Minister of Justice is sponsoring this atrocious Bill, 40 Conservative Party politicians supported him in the vote on the Bill's Second Reading in late October.
We list these 40 Conservative MPs below, so that, after signing this petition, you can politely and respectfully contact them to let them know you want them to REJECT the expansion of MAiD (which, again, will mean more death and more killing), and to EMBRACE life-affirming provisions, like more funding for homecare, palliative care, and mental health support for our most vulnerable citizens.
Thank you!
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
'People with disabilities oppose Canada’s proposed expansion of euthanasia law' - https://www.lifesitenews.com/opinion/people-with-disabilities-oppose-canadas-proposed-expansion-of-euthanasia-law
Canada's House of Parliament Info on Bill C-7 - https://www.parl.ca/LegisInfo/BillDetails.aspx?Language=en&Mode=1&billId=10875380&View=5
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto's 'Help the Living' initiative - https://www.helptheliving.ca/
**Photo Credit: Shutterstock.com
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List of 40 Conservatives who voted FOR C-7 (Expansion of Euthanasia) on the Bill's Second Reading:
SCOTT AITCHISON (Parry Sound—Muskoka) - Telephone: 613-944-7740; Email: [email protected]
DAN ALBAS (Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola) - Telephone: 613-995-1702; Email: [email protected]
LEONA ALLESLEV (Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill) - Telephone: 613-992-0700; Email: [email protected]
MEL ARNOLD (North Okanagan—Shuswap) - Telephone: 613-995-9095; Email: [email protected]
TONY BALDINELLI (Niagara Falls) - Telephone: 613-995-1547; Email: [email protected]
JOHN BARLOW (Foothills) - Telephone: 613-995-8471; Email: [email protected]
LUC BERTHOLD (Mégantic—L'Érable) - Telephone: 613-995-1377; Email: [email protected]
SCOT DAVIDSON (York—Simcoe) - Telephone: 613-996-7752; Email: [email protected]
GÉRARD DELTELL (Louis-Saint-Laurent) - Telephone: 613-996-4151; Email: [email protected]
CHRIS D'ENTREMONT (West Nova) - Telephone: 613-995-5711; Email: [email protected]
TODD DOHERTY (Cariboo—Prince George) - Telephone: 613-995-6704; Email: [email protected]
TERRY DOWDALL (Simcoe—Grey) - Telephone: 613-992-4224; Email: [email protected]
ERIC DUNCAN (Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry) - Telephone: 613-992-2521; Email: [email protected]
KERRY-LYNNE D. FINDLAY (South Surrey—White Rock) - Telephone: 613-947-4497; Email: [email protected]
DIANE FINLEY (Haldimand—Norfolk) - Telephone: 613-996-4974; Email: [email protected]
BERNARD GÉNÉREUX (Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup) - Telephone: 613-995-0265; Email: [email protected]
JOËL GODIN (Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier) - Telephone: 613-992-2798; Email: [email protected]
JACQUES GOURDE (Lévis—Lotbinière) - Telephone: 613-992-2639; Email: [email protected]
TRACY GRAY (Kelowna—Lake Country) - Telephone: 613-992-7006; Email: [email protected]
PAT KELLY (Calgary Rocky Ridge) - Telephone: 613-992-0826; Email: [email protected]
PETER KENT (Thornhill) - Telephone: 613-992-0253; Email: [email protected]
RON LIEPERT (Calgary Signal Hill) - Telephone: 613-992-3066; Email: [email protected]
LARRY MAGUIRE (Brandon—Souris) - Telephone: 613-995-9372; Email: [email protected]
RICHARD MARTEL (Chicoutimi—Le Fjord) - Telephone: 613-992-7207; Email: [email protected]
DAN MAZIER (Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa) - Telephone: 613-992-3176; Email: [email protected]
GREG MCLEAN (Calgary Centre) - Telephone: 613-995-1561; Email: [email protected]
CATHY MCLEOD (Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo) - Telephone: 613-995-6931; Email: [email protected]
ERIC MELILLO (Kenora) - Telephone: 613-996-1161; Email: [email protected]
MARTY MORANTZ (Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley) - Telephone: 613-995-5609; Email: [email protected]
ROB MORRISON (Kootenay—Columbia) - Telephone: 613-995-7246; Email: [email protected]
PIERRE PAUL-HUS (Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles) - Telephone: 613-995-8857; Email: [email protected]
ALAIN RAYES (Richmond—Arthabaska) - Telephone: 613-995-1554; Email: [email protected]
SCOTT REID (Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston) - Telephone: 613-947-2277; Email: [email protected]
MICHELLE REMPEL GARNER (Calgary Nose Hill) - Telephone: 613-992-4275; Email: [email protected]
ALEX RUFF (Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound) - Telephone: 613-996-5191; Email: [email protected]
BOB SAROYA (Markham—Unionville) - Telephone: 613-992-1178; Email: [email protected]
DOUG SHIPLEY (Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte) - Telephone: 613-992-0718; Email: [email protected]
BRUCE STANTON (Simcoe North) - Telephone: 613-992-6582; Email: [email protected]
KAREN VECCHIO (Elgin—Middlesex—London) - Telephone: 613-990-7769; Email: [email protected]
LEN WEBBER (Calgary Confederation) - Telephone: 613-996-2756; Email: [email protected]
In a press release sent out last week, the Church of God at Steinbach wrote, “The bible teaches Christians to be good citizens and obey the reasonable demands of our government.”
“It does not, however, teach blind obedience to the authorities when onerous restrictions are placed on our freedoms,” the statement continued. “In fact, we are guaranteed the right to religious freedom and peaceful assembly in the Canadian Constitution.”
“Subject only to reasonable limits. We now find ourselves debating what constitutes a justifiable, reasonable limit.”
On November 12, the Manitoba government, under Progressive Conservative Premier Brian Pallister, moved the entire province into the red “critical” phase of lockdown levels., which is currently the most restrictive and severe COVID-19 lockdown in Canada.
The local government ruled that all churches “must close” and only “provide services virtually.” Before the “critical” lockdown level orders were enacted, regulations allowed churches in Winnipeg to operate at 15 percent capacity, with those in the rest of the province being allowed to be 20 percent full.
All social gatherings in Manitoba are not “permitted,” and only businesses listed as “critical services” can be open at 25 percent capacity. This means that gyms, movie theaters, recreation centers, and museums are being ordered to close. Restaurants are allowed to offer take-out only, but schools remain open.
Today, the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) released a “comprehensive Charter analysis of the Manitoba Government’s lockdown measures,” going on to say that the Pallister government’s COVID-19 orders “violate the Charter freedoms of citizens to move, travel, assemble, associate and worship, all while crippling society and the economy.”
“The Province seems to have completely ignored the fact that Manitobans have Charter rights that protect their freedoms to assemble, associate, worship, and express themselves,” said Allison Pejovic, a Winnipeg-based lawyer and a member of the Manitoba bar.
“Manitobans are basically living under draconian restrictions. They are being told that they can’t see their loved ones and friends, buy their children Christmas presents at the stores, and come together in worship during the Christmas season.”
Just recently, police in Winnipeg, which is Manitoba’s largest city and capital, put out a call to actively encourage its citizens to make use of COVID-19 “snitch lines” to call out large private gatherings.
Pejovic told LifeSiteNews at the time that the Winnipeg Police snitching policy is a “dangerous road” that could lead to a society where “regular people are treated like criminals.”
“It is a concern when the message to society is that individuals should take on a role that is normally reserved for law enforcement, and assist police in reporting their neighbors’ behaviors,” Pejovic told LifeSiteNews.
As of today, Manitoba has 9260 active COVID-19 cases and has attributed 312 deaths to the virus.
For respectful communications, please contact:
Premier of Manitoba — Brian Pallister
Phone: 204-945-3714
Fax: 204-949-1484
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @BrianPallister
204 Legislative Building
450 Broadway
Winnipeg, MB R3C 0V8
To contact Manitoba Members of the Legislative Assembly, please CLICK HERE.