WINNIPEG, Manitoba, (LifeSiteNews) – The Canadian province of Manitoba has enacted draconian new COVID rules targeting churches located in its southern Bible Belt region that do not ask for proof of vaccination as a requirement to worship.
Manitoba’s Chief Provincial Public Health Officer Dr. Brent Roussin announced last Friday in a press conference the new limits on the size of church attendance, and said that the new rules also mandate that those without the jabs cannot mingle with those who have it.
“Those cohorts must be separate, they must not mingle in any way, they must have masks on at all times, and distancing rules apply,” said Roussin.
Roussin said that churches who follow a “proof of vaccine” system, however, will be allowed to operate without any capacity limits.
The COVID-19 injections approved for emergency use in Canada, including the Pfizer jab for ages 12 and up, all have connections to cells derived from aborted babies. All four have also been associated with severe side effects such as blood clots, rashes, miscarriages, and even heart attacks in young, healthy men. There have also have been reports of thousands of people who have developed tumors after getting their COVID shots.
Manitoba’s Health Minister Audrey Gordon said that provincial enforcement officers will monitor churches to impose compliance with the new rules.
“We will be looking into the ministry in the department of justice with the enforcement officers to carry out checks of religious facilities and institutions in Southern Health-Santé Sud. They will be unannounced and regularly checked,” Gordon said at Friday’s press conference.
“We need everyone to work together by following the public health orders, focusing on the fundamentals and getting vaccinated.”
The new rules took effect on Saturday and only apply to churches and other places of worship as well as Indigenous Cultural Events in the province’s Southern Health-Santé Sud region.
Roussin claimed the new rules are needed as the region is experiencing an uptick in COVID cases.
According to the government press release regarding the new restrictions, religious gatherings are “limited to 25 people unless the facility can physically divide the space into separate areas, in which case several cohorts of up to 25 can attend the same service.”
“However, the total number of attendees at a service may not exceed 25 per cent of facility capacity, to a maximum of 250 people,” said the government.
The province’s vaccine passport system, which has been in place since September 3, is optional for places of worship, but mandatory to access restaurants, gyms, movie theaters, museums, and outdoor and indoor sporting events.
Roussin also announced Friday that provincewide, youths aged 12 to 17 must either provide “proof of at least one dose of vaccination or a recent (within 72 hours) negative test result” to be allowed to play recreational sports.
The changes to COVID rules for youth sports take effect on December 6 and the government says “negative tests need to come from a participating pharmacy as provincial testing sites should only be accessed by symptomatic individuals.”
The Manitoba government claimed the new orders allow “fully vaccinated Manitobans to enjoy as much freedom and as few restrictions as possible” while those who have chosen to not get jabbed “continue to be restricted in their activities.”
It also says the Southern Health-Santé Sud has the province’s lowest COVID jab rates of 68 percent overall, compared to around 85 percent in all other regions, and wants that number to go up.
Manitoba’s official data for new COVID cases show a near 50-50 split between those with the jabs and without.
As of Tuesday, 96 new COVID cases were reported, with 52 being in “non vaccinated” people, 5 in “partially vaccinated” persons, and 42 in “fully vaccinated” individuals.
The Southern Health-Santé Sud region currently has 470 active COVID cases, compared to 1,445 total in the province.
Even before the introduction of vaccine passports, the province had strict rules in place banning all gatherings.
Targeting churches that do not comply with COVID orders
Recently, police in the province arrested Christian Pastor Tobias Tissen from the Church of God Restoration located in Steinbach, Manitoba.
Manitoba Justice had issued a warrant against Tissen because he attended an anti-lockdown protest in Winnipeg in May, which allegedly violated public health orders. At the time, no more than five people were allowed to gather outdoors.
Tissen was released from a Winnipeg jail after spending two nights there in late October.
Interestingly, Tissen’s church is in the Bible Belt Southern Health-Santé Sud region affected by the new COVID rules.
Just recently, Roussin said that oppressive COVID restrictions, including jab mandates and passports, will remain in place until at least mid-2022 in Manitoba.
The COVID jab trials have never produced evidence that vaccines stop infection or transmission. They do not even claim to reduce hospitalization, but the measurement of success is in preventing severe symptoms of COVID-19.
Dr. Peter McCullough said that those who develop COVID have “complete and durable immunity. And (that’s) a very important principle: complete and durable. You can’t beat natural immunity.”
Contact information for Premier of Manitoba Heather Stefanson
Phone: 204-945-3714
Fax: 204-949-1484
Email [email protected]
04 Legislative Building
450 Broadway
Winnipeg, MB R3C 0V8
To contact your Manitoba MLA click here.