11/13/2023 0 Comments Pastor james coates canadaThe official notice cites the following violations: In late January, Grace Life was cited for multiple violations by the authorities. For services taking place indoors, masks are also required as they are at most indoor public gatherings in Alberta. Under the most recent public health orders in Alberta, houses of worship are allowed to hold: 1) drive-in worship services without restrictions provided that attendees remain in their vehicles and 2) indoor worship services provided that attendance does not exceed 15% of the facility’s capacity according to the fire code. with 365 people in hospital, and 56 in intensive care.” However, the situation was much worse back in December “when the government put in lockdown rules as it dealt with close to 1,900 new cases a day and had more than 800 hospitalized.” Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, reported “263 new cases. Presently, Alberta is experiencing a decline in new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. GraceLife Church is in the province of Alberta, which has a population just over 4 million. Government restrictions in Canada vary from province to province and are phased based on the current severity of the pandemic. What are the COVID-19 restrictions in Canada? As a result, his bail was denied and Coates remains in custody.Īs explained below, the decision to jail Pastor Coates is wrong, and the ERLC calls for his immediate release. However, Coates stated that he would not abide by the conditions of his release. Coates was subsequently asked to turn himself into authorities, which he did on Tuesday.Īt a bail hearing on Wednesday morning, Coates was set to be released from custody on the condition that he would comply with the PHA’s COVID-19 restrictions going forward. The church held services again on February 14. According to the attorney representing Coates, the RCMP met with Coates after the service on February 7, charged him for violating the PHA, and presented him with a notice of the charges the RCMP might bring against him. As a result, the AHS ordered the church closed in January, but the church refused to comply with the order. In spite of the warning, Coates and GraceLife have continued to hold services in defiance of the orders, specifically exceeding the 15% capacity limit. At that time, the church was reportedly issued an official warning and instructed to “ensure people in the church are wearing face coverings when in the building, ensure members of different households keep at least two metres apart, provide with information about the building’s capacity and to not exceed the limit of 15 percent of total capacity at any one time.” The conflict dates back to December when Coates and GraceLife were fined for noncompliance with public health mandates. According to the RCMP, Coates was arrested and charged “with two counts of contravention of the Public Health Act (PHA) and charged for failing to comply with a condition of his undertaking, under the Criminal Code.” Hinshaw and AHS to implement safety precautions “because they want to take care of their congregations.On Tuesday of this week, James Coates, the pastor of GraceLife Church outside the city of Edmonton, turned himself in to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) after violating public health restrictions related to COVID-19. “The reason we’ve had our cases come down… is because Albertans have followed the public health measures, and that includes our faith communities,” Shandro said, adding that many groups worked with Dr. The health minister was asked what message it sends if a pastor who has stated he’ll continue holding large services in violation of health rules is released and charges against him are dropped. In rare cases, when businesses or groups “flagrantly” continue to disregard public health measures, they’ve been shut down or fined, he said. Shandro said, in most cases, public health inspectors have worked with establishments to educate and implement public health guidelines. We have to leave that to independent third parties, whether that’s our police, our prosecutors, our public health inspectors.” “We have to leave the decisions about prosecution up to - and not have it be micromanaged and influenced by politicians.
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