CALGARY, Alberta, May 18, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) — The third Canadian Christian pastor to be jailed for defying COVID-19 health rules will be released after a judge yesterday agreed to let him out so long as he abides by a now-amended May 6 injunction order issued by the Alberta Health Services (AHS).
Pastor Tim Stephens of Fairview Baptist Church in Calgary, Alberta, was arrested in front of his family and then jailed on Sunday, May 16, after holding an indoor church service which went against the provincial government’s rules.
Stephens and his church have for months been under surveillance by AHS, the Calgary Police Service, and city bylaw officers because they have not bowed to government rules which limit worship congregation size and mandate masks. Additionally, Fairview Baptist was visited on multiple occasions by AHS and police.
According to the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF), the legal group representing Stephens, AHS had wanted to keep him in jail until he agreed to “consent to the violation of his Charter rights and freedoms by Alberta’s public health orders.”
The JCCF noted that Stephens was arrested based on a May 6 court injunction issued by Associate Chief Justice Rooke, which was directed
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