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Prince Albert church at centre of COVID-19 outbreak fined $14,000
A photo originally posted to Facebook has been digitally altered to blur the faces of attendees. The photo shows a religious gathering held at the Full Gospel Outreach Centre in Prince Albert. Photo by facebook /Regina Leader-Post
Prince Albert’s Full Gospel Outreach Centre, which has been linked to a gospel revival outreach event tied to dozens of cases of COVID-19 in multiple communities, has been fined $14,000.
The province announced a $14,000 fine for a corporation for non-compliance with the public health act order and reopen Saskatchewan guidelines for places of worship Sunday. That amount includes a $10,000 fine and a $4,000 surcharge.
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Ten of the 28 tickets issued last year for violating COVID-19 restrictions were withdrawn or jurisdiction was lost, and only two fines have been paid in full.
Five ended in convictions and the other 13 charges are awaiting a court date. The number of tickets issued in January is not yet available, but the province took the unprecedented step last week of naming three bars that were issued tickets worth $14,000 apiece for alleged violations.
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PRINCE ALBERT The Prince Albert Full Gospel Outreach Centre is heading to court to fight a $14,000 fine issued for violating COVID-19 public health orders. A Saskatchewan Health Authority public health officer handed over the ticket to Pastor Vern Temple in October. The fine was issued for non-compliance to public health orders and places of worship guidelines during a 100-day revival series. The event was connected to 86 first and second generation COVID-19 cases in 17 different communities in the province. Temple said COVID-19 restrictions show an inequity towards religious organizations. He questioned why the government allows large groups of people to shop at a liquor store, while religious services are limited to 30. At the time of the fine, places of worship were allowed up to 150 people while following public health measures.
A Prince Albert church will contest in court the large fine it received from government authorities in October for violating public health orders and provincial COVID-19 guidelines.
The Alberta lawyer who will represent Full Gospel Outreach says religious groups and street churches in particular have been targeted by authorities during the pandemic and the case will revolve, in part, around the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Meanwhile, the church’s pastor says the government has been “unbalanced” in its enforcement of the laws and argues health officials don’t understand the importance of spiritual gatherings.
The church’s legal costs will be paid for by the far-right political online media outlet Rebel News, which has run a crowdfunding campaign to give legal assistance to those who, as they say, “have received a lockdown ticket.”