GraceLife Church shuttered by authorities after months of flouting COVID-19 rules
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Dylan Short , Nicole Bergot
© Provided by Edmonton Journal A fence has gone up around GraceLife Church and security is on scene to keep church members away on Wednesday, April 7, 2021 .
Layers of metal fencing were erected around the perimeter of GraceLife Church in Parkland County Wednesday as Alberta Health Services (AHS) shuttered the building after months of defiance of provincial public health orders.
Residents who live in the area said they saw about a dozen RCMP vehicles arrive at the church west of Edmonton in a “convoy” around 6 a.m. RCMP said officers were on site to assist AHS with the closure. A private security company was also on the property.
By 8 a.m., a layer of fencing adorned with black cloth had been placed around the perimeter of the building. By noon, the driveway into the church and the parking lot had also been blocked by a fencing company.
Close to 50 people showed up to support the church throughout the morning while several others drove by shouting support for the RCMP and the closure of the building
AHS issued a statement Wednesday announcing it had physically closed GraceLife Church and prevented access to the building. It said the closure will remain in effect until GraceLife can demonstrate an ability to comply with public health restrictions.
The church’s shuttering came after it held two packed services over Easter weekend , in violation of a closure order issued in January for previously flouting COVID-19 restrictions. Pastor James Coates, who has led several services in recent months, was ticketed in December and then jailed in February for 35 days after refusing to follow court orders.
In its statement, AHS listed several steps taken prior to the physical closure including an order issued on Dec. 17 requiring GraceLife to comply with restrictions issued by the chief medical officer of health. A Court of Queen’s Bench Order obtained on Jan. 21 required GraceLife to comply with the previous order.
AHS issued a closure order on Jan. 29 requiring the church to close until it agreed to follow current restrictions. On March 27, the department sent a letter to Coates providing him with information on the continued spread of COVID-19. Last week, AHS invited Coates to meet virtually to discuss the risks presented by COVID-19, however the church has not provided any dates to meet.
A statement posted to the church’s website has called into question the effectiveness of current health measures
Layers of metal fencing were erected around the perimeter of GraceLife Church in Parkland County Wednesday as Alberta Health Services (AHS) shuttered the building after months of defiance of provincial public health orders.
Residents who live in the area said they saw about a dozen RCMP vehicles arrive at the church west of Edmonton in a “convoy” around 6 a.m. RCMP said officers were on site to assist AHS with the closure. A private security company was also on the property.
By 8 a.m., a layer of fencing adorned with black cloth had been placed around the perimeter of the building. By noon, the driveway into the church and the parking lot had also been blocked by a fencing company.
Close to 50 people showed up to support the church throughout the morning while several others drove by shouting support for the RCMP and the closure of the building
AHS issued a statement Wednesday announcing it had physically closed GraceLife Church and prevented access to the building. It said the closure will remain in effect until GraceLife can demonstrate an ability to comply with public health restrictions.
The church’s shuttering came after it held two packed services over Easter weekend , in violation of a closure order issued in January for previously flouting COVID-19 restrictions. Pastor James Coates, who has led several services in recent months, was ticketed in December and then jailed in February for 35 days after refusing to follow court orders.
In its statement, AHS listed several steps taken prior to the physical closure including an order issued on Dec. 17 requiring GraceLife to comply with restrictions issued by the chief medical officer of health. A Court of Queen’s Bench Order obtained on Jan. 21 required GraceLife to comply with the previous order.
AHS issued a closure order on Jan. 29 requiring the church to close until it agreed to follow current restrictions. On March 27, the department sent a letter to Coates providing him with information on the continued spread of COVID-19. Last week, AHS invited Coates to meet virtually to discuss the risks presented by COVID-19, however the church has not provided any dates to meet.
A statement posted to the church’s website has called into question the effectiveness of current health measures
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© Greg Southam A fence has gone up around GraceLife Church and security is on scene to keep church members away on Wednesday, April 7, 2021.
A fence has gone up around GraceLife Church and security is on scene to keep church members away on Wednesday, April 7, 2021.[/caption]
The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF), which has been representing Coates in court, said in a statement it is “outraged” by the Alberta government’s decision to enter a private church and put up a double barrier around its exterior.
“Freedom of conscience and religion is the first fundamental freedom listed in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It is listed first because it is one of the key bedrock principles on which Canada is built,” said John Carpay, JCCF president, in an email. “The government has so far refused to justify the limits on worship and gathering.”
Churches are allowed to open at 15 per cent of fire code capacity as long as masks are worn and people from different households stay two metres apart. GraceLife has been found in violation of each of these restrictions.
Between July 10 and April 6, AHS received 105 complaints about the church from the public. Inspectors have conducted 18 inspections since July 10 and observed violations during each visit.
AHS said the church “has decided not to follow these mandatory restrictions, nor have they attempted to work with AHS to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission.”
“With COVID-19 cases increasing and the more easily-transmitted and potentially more severe variants becoming dominant, there is urgent need to minimize spread to protect all Albertans,” said AHS in the statement.
Coates received a $1,500 fine for violating a court undertaking, which was paid through time served. The church has been charged as an entity, and is scheduled to go to trial in May. Coates has one outstanding ticket before the court that he is planning to fight in May after other charges against him were dropped.
GraceLife has had COVID-19 cases in the past. Alberta Health has declined to say how many cases have been connected to the church or
A fence has gone up around GraceLife Church and security is on scene to keep church members away on Wednesday, April 7, 2021.[/caption]
The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF), which has been representing Coates in court, said in a statement it is “outraged” by the Alberta government’s decision to enter a private church and put up a double barrier around its exterior.
“Freedom of conscience and religion is the first fundamental freedom listed in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It is listed first because it is one of the key bedrock principles on which Canada is built,” said John Carpay, JCCF president, in an email. “The government has so far refused to justify the limits on worship and gathering.”
Churches are allowed to open at 15 per cent of fire code capacity as long as masks are worn and people from different households stay two metres apart. GraceLife has been found in violation of each of these restrictions.
Between July 10 and April 6, AHS received 105 complaints about the church from the public. Inspectors have conducted 18 inspections since July 10 and observed violations during each visit.
AHS said the church “has decided not to follow these mandatory restrictions, nor have they attempted to work with AHS to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission.”
“With COVID-19 cases increasing and the more easily-transmitted and potentially more severe variants becoming dominant, there is urgent need to minimize spread to protect all Albertans,” said AHS in the statement.
Coates received a $1,500 fine for violating a court undertaking, which was paid through time served. The church has been charged as an entity, and is scheduled to go to trial in May. Coates has one outstanding ticket before the court that he is planning to fight in May after other charges against him were dropped.
GraceLife has had COVID-19 cases in the past. Alberta Health has declined to say how many cases have been connected to the church or
Closure comes day after restrictions reintroduced
The closure came on the heels of Premier Jason Kenney’s Tuesday announcement that Alberta was reverting back to Step 1 of its public health restriction framework in order to curb the growing spread of COVID-19 and variant cases.
Kenney said he believes the current measures would have been enough if people would have complied with them, but there was growing evidence of non-compliance from “COVID fatigue.”
“Unfortunately, we are continuing to see accelerated growth driven by the variants and concluded that these additional measures were necessary,” Kenney said.
Last weekend, Coates led a Sunday service for the third time since his release from jail on March 22.
“The only responsible choice to save lives and to protect our health-care system is to take action,” Kenney said.
Alberta reported 1,351 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, after 14,051 tests were completed. Another 575 cases of variants of concern were also identified. There are 333 people in hospital with COVID-19, 79 of whom are in intensive care.
Kenney said it is expected that the dominant COVID-19 strain in Alberta will become a variant over the next week. Based on current transmission data, the province could see as many as 2,000 new cases daily of COVID-19 and up to 1,000 patients in hospital by the end of April.
— With files from Anna Junker and Dustin Cook
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