CONTACT YOUR MP: Free Pastor Coates and protect people of faith! Contact your MP, here.
CALGARY, Alberta, March 10, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) — The head of the legal group representing jailed Canadian Pastor James Coates says the Alberta provincial government will soon be forced to tell the facts about COVID, instead of merely practicing “fear-mongering through press conferences.”
In an interview with LifeSiteNews, John Carpay, who serves as the president of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF), said Coates’ upcoming trial scheduled for May 3 to 5 will — for the very “first time” — force the government to show its evidence for backing lockdowns which restrict church attendance size.
“It is a travesty of justice to have a pastor in jail for not complying with unscientific and unconstitutional health orders in respect to which the government has not provided any evidence, only theories,” Carpay told LifeSiteNews.
Carpay said that Coates upcoming trial will force the Alberta government under Premier Jason Kenney to disclose to the public the COVID “science” rather than engage in daily press conferences.
“The government has a theory that church services are a danger to public health, there’s no evidence that’s been before any court to support that, the government will have to produce some evidence at the trial May 3 to 5,” Carpay told LifeSiteNews. “At this trial the government will for the very first time have to show the public the science rather than through engaging in fear-mongering through press conferences.”
Coates has been detained at the Edmonton Remand Centre, awaiting trial since February 16, after refusing to agree to bail conditions which block his release unless he agrees to not hold church services amid severe coronavirus lockdowns.
On March 5, an Alberta court judge dismissed an appeal to his bail conditions, meaning Coates will remain behind bars for another two months.
Carpay told LifeSiteNews that his organization is contemplating an appeal through the Alberta Court of Appeal regarding Coates’ bail conditions, which forbid him from holding church services.
He was recently a guest on a Western Standard livestream interview with former Alberta MLA and mainstream media talk show host Danielle Smith, as well as Coates’ wife Erin.
In the livestream, Carpay noted, “I think Pastor Coates is a hero, it’s people like him that make the difference in creating justice in a country, because unless and until that happens, the injustice just — at best it stays at the same level, but it usually gets worse.”
On Sunday, February 14, Coates held a church service at his Grace Life Church located in Spruce Grove, Alberta, in violation of a January 29 order by Alberta Health Services (AHS) demanding that the church doors remain shut. It was shortly after this date that he was jailed.
In his ruling on March 5, Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Peter Michalyshyn stated that Coates remains bound to the “law” and must follow Alberta’s COVID rules, despite the fact they go against his religious convictions.
Michalyshyn said Coates’ refusal to agree to comply with the Alberta health orders, imposed by its Chief Medical Officer Deena Hinshaw, was problematic.
Current Alberta COVID rules state that churches and other places of worship can operate at no more than 15 percent of the capacity allowed by the building fire code. Masks are mandatory, as are the sanitation of hands and keeping away from other people.
Recently, Carpay blasted Canada’s provincial chief medical officers for championing COVID lockdowns, saying “[n]o credible doctor would harm” people’s well-being by “stripping” them of their “freedoms” and disallowing them to be with loved ones, the way chief medical health officers are doing.
The JCCF has continually blasted the Kenney government for continued lockdowns and the impact they have had on Albertans’ lives, pointing out the extremely high survival rate.
As of this writing, Alberta lists 263 people in hospital, with 37 in ICU, in relation to COVID-19.
According to statistics compiled by the JCCF based on data from the government, the survival rate in Alberta from COVID-19 is 99.96 percent.
On Monday, Kenney announced that retail businesses can increase their capacity limits to 25 percent, however churches were not included in this increase.
The JCCF recently released an impactful video calling out Alberta Premier Jason Kenney for COVID-related emergency laws that led to the jailing of Coates.
The legal group is currently involved in many COVID-19 related legal cases in Alberta, and Canada-wide, representing people and groups fighting fines and charges.
The Alberta government, along with its health officials, have repeatedly stated that the health care system in the province would be overwhelmed were it not for COVID-19 lockdown measures, which have been in place for almost a year.
However, just recently, an internal memo indicated that intensive care unit (ICU) admissions in the Canadian province of Alberta were lower in 2020 than in 2019.
LifeSiteNews asks its readers to take the time to defend the religious liberty of Canadians by filling out our VoterVoice Alert to free Pastor Coates.
Contact:
Premier of Alberta Jason Kenney
Office of the Premier
307 Legislature Building
10800 – 97 Avenue
Edmonton, Alberta T5K 2B6
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 780-427-2251
To contact your local MLA, visit the link below.:
https://www.assembly.ab.ca/members/members-of-the-legislative-assembly