Alberta pastor jailed for holding services during COVID, expected to be released in days, lawyers say

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EDMONTON — An Alberta pastor, who has spent weeks in jail after holding church services in violation of public health rules, is expected to be released in the coming days, his lawyers say.

James Coates is expected to have one of the charges against him withdrawn, another settled with a fine, but will be released to await trial on the third and final charge. The court has yet to accept this joint submission from the Crown and defence.

The case has galvanized the faithful across Canada. Coates, the pastor of GraceLife Church, in Parkland County outside of Edmonton, has been at the centre of a debate about the clash between religious freedoms and pandemic public health restrictions.

John Carpay is president of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, which is representing Coates. He says they’ll go to trial on the remaining charge in May.

“The government will have to justify the violation of our Charter freedoms,” said Carpay.

Most provincial public health authorities have had gathering restrictions on religious services through the pandemic. Alberta restricts houses of worship to 15 per cent of fire code capacity. Ontario, just days ago, loosened its restrictions for religious services to this same level. British Columbia still restricts in-person gatherings, although there are hints restrictions could soon be loosened.

There have been several clashes throughout the pandemic as religious organizations defy the restrictions to provide worship services at a time of crisis.

Coates was charged in mid-February with violating public health orders. His church has been holding in-person services without social distancing, size-of-gathering restrictions or mask-wearing.

After he was charged, Coates was released on bail and then re-arrested for holding packed services again, in violation of the public-health orders on gathering sizes. Since he refused to abide by the conditions of his release, Coates has been held in the Edmonton Remand Centre since Feb. 16.

In an affidavit filed in court by Coates’s wife, Erin, she says her husband’s “sincerely held religious belief is that only the Lord Jesus Christ has the authority to prescribe the terms of worship at GraceLife, not any other authority,” and that following COVID restrictions would be disobeying Christ.

“It would amount to fearing man instead of fearing God, or choosing to disobey God by complying with the commend (sic) of an earthly authority that is in opposition to the commandments of God,” Erin Coates writes.

There are different theologies at play

Coates had been charged with two violations of the Public Health Act and one criminal count for not complying with the conditions of his release. His lawyers said he would pay a $100 fine to settle the criminal charge. One Public Health Act charge related to social distancing would then be dropped.

The second Public Health Act charge, regarding capacity requirements for houses of worship, remains, and Coates’s lawyers say they wish to challenge the constitutionality of it.

The Alberta Crown Prosecution Service did not respond to requests for comment on the matter.

The GraceLife church itself was charged last week for Public Health Act violations.

Last month in Ontario, Trinity Bible Chapel in Waterloo, west of Toronto, was ordered to pay $38,000 in fines and $45,000 in legal costs for holding services in defiance of Ontario’s limit on 10 people per indoor gathering.

Contrast that with other faith leaders, such as the Edmonton Interfaith Centre, whose leaders recently signed a letter supporting COVID-19 provisions.

“Different religious traditions have different understandings of the relationship between church and state, there are different theologies at play,” said Andrew Bennett, the director of the Cardus Religious Freedom Institute.

“The Constitution is quite clear that reasonable limits, the reasonable limits test, is an essential component of determining when can government lawfully restrict certain fundamental freedoms.”

Religious freedoms, like with other rights in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, exist within certain limits. In a previous case, in 2009, courts found the Alberta government could force Hutterites to have their photo taken to have driver’s licences, which they believed violated the Second Commandment.

Richard Moon, a law professor at the University of Windsor, whose research focuses on freedom of religion, said there’s a sense in some religious communities of “the importance of adhering to God’s law and God’s law taking precedence over civil law, over man-made law.”

When it comes to broader issues, for example, the conflict between religion and law, or other freedoms in the Charter, the level of infringement depends upon the right in question, said Moon. The courts will weigh the effect of COVID restrictions on faith, including if rules might impact faith groups in ways they don’t other groups. They will also weigh the evolving knowledge about COVID-19 and the risks of changing restrictions, Moon said.

“Restrictions have to sometimes be developed very quickly to respond to a changing, developing situation,” said Moon. “In those sorts of circumstances, the courts are almost certainly going to show significant deference to the legislature’s judgement.”

Bennett, who served as Canada’s first religious freedom ambassador, said the line on reasonableness needs to be assessed.

“We have to recognize this is a somewhat unprecedented situation we find ourselves in and faith communities need to adopt a reasonable approach while at the same time upholding the principle of religious freedom.”

With additional reporting from the Edmonton Journal

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