No fewer than seven Manitoba churches were in court to fight against public-health orders thay were put in place to halt the spread of COVID-19 in the province.
The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, a Calgary-based group that represents the churches, revealed that the restrictions are unjustified contraventions of charter-protected freedoms.
The argument of the churches was their right to worship and assemble has been breached, thereby causing “a crisis of conscience, loneliness, and harm to their spiritual well-being.”
Under current health guidelines, Manitoba church gatherings are restricted to 10 people or 25 percent capacity, and everyone is mandated to wear a mask.
A lawyer for the province told court during the previous hearing that it was within the legislature’s jurisdiction to grant the authority to the chief provincial public health officer to enforce reasonable restrictions.
