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‘Population is the patient’ lawyers argue during appeal of B.C.’s church gathering ban

Churches that defied rules on gathering are appealing their previous court loss
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B.C. Court of Appeal in Vancouver. (Black Press Media files)

The overall health of all British Columbians was the reason for restrictions on gathering in churches in 2020 and 2021, lawyers for the Attorney General of B.C. argued against an appeal launched by churches in Langley, Abbotsford, and Chilliwack.

“In cases like this, it is the population that is the patient,” said lawyer Catherine Reilly, arguing on behalf of the province, Attorney General’s office, and health authorities.

That was the context of the decisions made by Dr. Bonnie Henry, the province’s chief medical health officer, Riley argued before the three-judge B.C. Court of Appeal panel.

The three churches had challenged the province’s right to shut down in-person religious services during the second wave of the pandemic in late 2020 and early 2021, during the second wave of COVID-19 infections that swept British Columbia.

Riverside Calvary Chapel in Langley, Immanuel Covenant Reformed Church in Abbotsford and the Free Reformed Church of Chilliwack, had continued holding services in early 2021, in defiance of the public health orders issued by Henry.

They lost their first case a year ago, in March 2021.

READ ALSO: Judge dismisses Fraser Valley churches petition against COVID-19 rules

The case pitted rights guaranteed under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms with the need to protect the vulnerable and the integrity of the health care system itself.

“Although the impacts of the… orders on the religious petitioners’ rights are significant, the benefits to the objectives of the orders are even more so. In my view, the orders represent a reasonable and proportionate balance,” B.C. Supreme Court’s Chief Justice Christopher Hinkson wrote in his original ruling.

The churches, represented by the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, quickly announced they would appeal, and the court began hearing the case Tuesday, March 29.

Reilly argued during Wednesday’s portion of the appeal hearing that Henry and the provincial health authorities were basing their decisions on a vast amount of information gathered from around B.C., from scientific studies worldwide, and then applying their years of expertise.

She also noted that the goals of the orders were to protect the public health and the health care system, while causing as little disruption as possible. Restrictions were imposed or lifted as the situation changed.

“We see of course Dr. Henry making many many orders, recalibrating those orders, and adjusting those orders,” Reilly said.

The context of the orders under which churches were closed is also important, she argued. It was in the middle of the second wave, which had seen positive COVID cases take off sharply.

“There’s the classic hockey-stick-type shape to that trajectory,” she said of the number of new infections.

Meanwhile, vaccines had yet to arrive. Restrictions on public gatherings were among the only tools provincial health authorities had at that time to slow the spread of the pandemic.

JCCF lawyers argued Wednesday that prohibiting in-person religious services did not fall within the range of reasonable alternatives that were available to the public health officer.

They pointed to another religious group, a Jewish Orthodox community, that was given a partial exemption to hold in-person services outdoors with 25 or fewer people. Many Orthodox Jews cannot use technology on the Sabbath, so they could not hold religious services over Zoom.

The lawyers for the churches have also compared the restrictions on churches to other gathering places that faced fewer restrictions, including bars and counselling support groups.

READ ALSO: B.C. is ‘stereotyping’ churches as riskier for COVID than other spaces, lawyer argues

The judges reserved their decision, and will announce it later.

Most restrictions on religious gatherings were lifted last year, and almost all restrictions across the province have now been lifted for all types of public gatherings.


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Matthew Claxton

About the Author: Matthew Claxton

Raised in Langley, as a journalist today I focus on local politics, crime and homelessness.
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