EDMONTON, Alberta (LifeSiteNews) –– In another “complete victory” court ruling in favor of one’s right to practice their faith uninhibited, an Alberta pastor and her church will no longer have to pay $80,000 in COVID health fines after an appeals court acquitted them of three obstruction convictions made under the province’s Public Health Act.
On Monday, the Court of Appeal of Alberta acquitted pastor Tracy Fortin and her Church in the Vine of Edmonton, Alberta, of their COVID convictions. Those convictions came in April of 2022 after Fortin allegedly prevented an Alberta public health officer from accessing the church during a religious service to see if they were complying with COVID dictates.
At the time, churches in the province were restricted to 15 percent capacity, and masks were mandated.
The news was celebrated by Fortin’s lawyer as a “complete victory.”
“What started out as a long, tough fight with very little hope ended in a complete victory,” said The Democracy Fund-backed lawyer James Kitchen, who served as Fortin and Church in the Vine’s legal counsel, in comments sent to LifeSiteNews.
“These pastors weren’t arrested like the others, but $80,000 is a lot to pay in fines.”
In a press release about the acquittal sent out yesterday, the The Democracy Fund (TDF) said the acquittals entered by the appellate court “on the consent of the parties,” came in light of a recent court ruling which declared certain public health orders effectively null.
The overreaching Alberta court ruling concerning COVID mandates in the province saw a judge rule that politicians violated the province’s health act by making decisions regarding COVID mandates without authorization.
As a result, many who were charged for violating COVID health mandates have had their charges dropped.
Alberta Crown Prosecutions Service (ACPS) said Albertans currently facing COVID-related charges will likely not face conviction but will instead have their charges stayed.
Fortin and Church in the Vine faced a slew of charges for defying Alberta COVID rules that racked up to $80,000, but won’t have to pay them now due to acquittals.
Prosecutor ‘did the right thing’ by conceding acquittals
TDF’s litigation director Alan Honner observed that “The prosecutor did the right thing in conceding the acquittals,” concerning Fortin’s fines.
“An obstruction conviction should not stand where the underlying investigation was based on an invalid law,” he said.
The initial trial for Fortin and her church was not successful in dismissing the fines, and as a result, Kitchen “sought leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal of Alberta, which was granted in May 2023.”
Honner noted that the acquittals would “never have happened without the persistence of the pastor and her legal team.”
“We are very pleased with the final outcome,” he noted.
Thus far, café owner Chris Scott, Alberta pastors James Coates and Tim Stephens, who were both jailed for keeping their churches open under the leadership of former pro-lockdown Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, have all had the COVID charges leveled against them dropped due to the court ruling.
After Kenney stepped down from his role as premier and leader of the United Conservative Party, Danielle Smith took over and fired the province’s top doctor, Deena Hinshaw, and the entire Alberta Health Services (AHS) board of directors, all of whom oversaw the COVID mandates.
Smith made headlines last October after promising to look at pardoning Christian pastors who were jailed for violating so-called COVID policies while Kenney was premier and for apologizing to those who were discriminated against for not getting the COVID shots.