'I am guilty': Plea by controversial pastor resolves all COVID-related charges
Controversial Aylmer pastor Henry Hildebrandt was defiant to the end when he pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of violating provincial pandemic rules at a virtual hearing and was fined $52,000.
Article content
Controversial Aylmer pastor Henry Hildebrandt was defiant to the end when he pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of violating provincial pandemic rules at a virtual hearing and was fined $52,000.
Hildebrandt, who emerged as one of the most vocal critics of COVID-19 public health restrictions by holding services at his church and speaking at rallies that defied gathering limits in place, was asked how he pleaded to the charge.
“Guilty of obeying God rather than men,” he said in a St. Thomas court.
Later the pastor of the Church of God conceded in the hearing broadcast on Zoom: “I am guilty of breaking the Ontario Reopening Act.”
Following his plea, justice of the peace Anna Marie Hampson accepted a joint submission from public prosecutor Jack Huber and Hildebrandt’s defence lawyer Chris Fleury.
During sentencing Hampson noted the rights of Hildebrandt and others “were indeed violated by those (pandemic) restrictions.
“However the limitations that were in place (during the COVID-19 pandemic). . . . those limits were reasonable under the circumstances,” she said.
Hildebrandt was charged more than half a dozen times between January and June 2021 with violating the Reopening Ontario Act, legislation that limited the size of outdoor and indoor gatherings during that stage of the COVID-19 pandemic when the province’s health care system was overwhelmed. The rules limited the number of people allowed to gather indoors to 10 and 25 outdoors
On June 6, 2021, police investigated a large gathering at the Alymer Church of God, Huber said.
“Police attended and observed Pastor Hildebrandt addressing a group that police estimate was at least 195 people in close proximity, not social distancing and not wearing masks,” he said.
“This activity had had a significant impact on Alymer, Ontario and divided this community.”
As a result of his guilty plea for the June 6, 2021, gathering, all other charges against him, his family, the Church of God, former politicians Randy Hillier and Derek Sloan and other church members will be dropped.
Fleury said the guilty plea was part of “a global resolution.
“Mr. Hildebrandt is taking responsibility and he is taking responsibility in terms of the plea and essentially all those charges that are before the courts,” he said.
Hildebrandt also must pay a $13,000 victim surcharge.
Both Aylmer’s Church of God and Trinity Bible Chapel in Waterloo Region held large in-person church services without health restrictions in early 2021 when the number of people allowed to gather was severely restricted.
At the time the widespread distribution of COVID-19 vaccines hadn’t begun and COVID-19 had already killed thousands in Canada.
Earlier this month the Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear an appeal from the two ultra-conservative churches after lower courts rejected their challenge of the temporary public health laws on the grounds they violated religious freedom.
Canada’s highest court dismissed an application for leave to appeal, with costs, after the Ontario Court of Appeal decision to uphold a court’s ruling that capacity limits under the Reopening Ontario Act were constitutionally sound.
The Church of God’s continuous flouting of the laws led to its closing in May 2021 when Superior Court Justice Bruce Thomas ordered the church be temporarily locked up, calling the building “the crucible of contemptuous activity.”
The congregation continued to meet outdoors until the locks were removed four months following the introduction of new vaccines.
At the time Hildebrandt said he was willing to do whatever it takes to defend “God-given freedoms.”
In March 2022 Superior Court Justice Renee Pomerance shot down a constitutional challenge brought by the churches.
Though the restrictions interfered with religious freedom, they were “reasonably and demonstrably justified” given the deadly public health crisis, she said in her decision.
The Ontario Court of Appeal agreed, saying the decision determined religious infringements were balanced by the benefits of the regulations that saved lives.
HRivers@postmedia.com
Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.