All posts tagged: Alberta

Canadian pastor wins big in court

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Artur Pawlowski is the pastor from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, who refused to let police and a health inspector from the Alberta government into his church on Easter Sunday 2021, to ensure everyone was abiding by the government’s COVID regulations. He was subsequently charged with several COVID violations and as well for his his support of truck convoy protestors calling for an end of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s mandate. Well, Pawlowski had a big day in court, and it did not go well for the government, according to True North. Though the pastor lost in lower court cases, on appeal, the Alberta Court of Appeals basically found Pawlowski innocent on all charges. TNC explains: Now, the Alberta Court of Appeal ruled that the injunction against him, his arrest, his jail time, the censorship order and fines against him were illegal. Justice Barbara Lea Veldhuis, Justice Michelle Crighton and Justice Jo’ Anne Strekaf ordered Alberta Health Services (AHS) to reimburse Pawlowski and his brother, Dawid, for the costs of their appeal and the return of any fines and penalties …

Canadian pastor released from jail

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Tim Stephens pastors Fairview Baptist Church in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He was just released this past weekend after spending two weeks in jail after Calgary police used a helicopter to track down where pastor Stephens was holding an outdoor church service. On June 5, 2021, the Alberta Health Services (AHS) seized the church’s property and posted messages on its doors banning indoor services when Stephens refused to comply with Alberta’s health orders limiting church services. As Stephens noted in his tweet, the same week AHS issued the ban, photos surfaced of several senior Alberta officials breaking the COVID restrictions. As a result of that action, Stephens decided to hold services outdoors, which resulted in him being arrested in front of his children on June 14, 2021 on behalf of the AHS. After hearing of the arrest US Senator, Josh Hawley of Missouri, approached the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom asking it to put Canada on its watch list. “I am troubled that our Canadian neighbors are effectively being forced to gather in secret, undisclosed locations …

Court allows Calgary police ‘to do anything necessary’ to enforce church inspection

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I previously reported on how a Canadian Pastor, Artur Pawlowski, who grew up under communism in Poland, twice drove an Alberta health inspector from his Calgary church, The Fortress (Cave) of Adullam, when she demanded entrance for a COVID health inspection. According to the Daily Wire, Alberta’s health department has now received a court-ordered warrant allowing the police “to do anything necessary,” if Pastor Pawlowski obstructs the health department’s third attempt to enter the building.

“Did you ever think you’d be part of an underground church” in Canada?

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It is unbelievable this is happening in a democracy, but a church in Canada has been forced to go underground in order to hold services. On Wednesday, April 7, 2021, RCMP showed up at GraceLife church outside of Spruce Grove, Alberta, and put up double barricades around the building to prevent people from attending services. The church had been holding services in defiance of the provincial lockdown that limits attendance to 15% of capacity. It’s pastor, James Coates, was also in jail for 35 days when he was arrested for breaking the lockdown rules. None of the charges against Coates warranted jail time, only fines, yet Coates ended up in jail because the RCMP demanded Coates voluntarily sign an undertaking that he would not attend services. Coates refused so, the RCMP refused to release the pastor. He was eventually released once that undertaking was removed. His court case is scheduled for May 3, 2021 where he is facing a fine of $1,500 for violating lockdown orders. With its building barricaded, this past Sunday (April 11, …

Christians tear down police barricade around church, Canada

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In images, you would only expect to see in Communist China, Christians in the Canadian province of Alberta tried tearing down barricades that the police had put up around GraceLife church in Spruce Grove, AB to prevent people from attending this week’s Sunday service (April 11, 2021). The church, that also had its pastor jailed for 35 days, has been holding services in defiance of the province’s lockdown that limits services to just 15% of capacity. The RCMP, who were just obeying orders, responded by sending in dozens of police to rebuild the barricade. The Blaze explains: Hundreds of Canadian Christians gathered on Sunday at the GraceLife Church in Edmonton, Alberta. Government officials shut down the church for allegedly violating public COVID-19 health orders. Authorities erected a chain-link fence to prevent the house of worship from reopening last week. On Sunday, worshippers tore down the barricade, but were quickly met by a large contingent of riot police. Alberta Health Services physically closed the GraceLife Church, preventing access to the building. AHS said the church would …

Alberta Legislature Wikipedia/GPL

Alberta government starts a range war against Christians

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The government of the Canadian province of Alberta has allegedly turned down an Edmonton couple for adoption because of their Christian faith. The unnamed couple who go by the initials C.D. and N.D are Evangelical Christians. The couple was even willing to adopt an older child who typically become stuck in the foster system with little hope of adoption. The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) is representing C.D. and N.D. in a court case against the Alberta government to have its decision overturned. The married couple, who are unable to conceive, applied for an adoption in October 2016 and were initially approved by the Catholic Social Services (CSS) a representative of the government’s Child and Family Services (CFS). Then in March 2017, the couple were told the government needed them to answer additional questions on how they would handle their potential child’s sexuality. In its news release, JCCF said the couple responded that they would treat any child “with unconditional love, respect and compassion regardless of what the child chose to do, and regardless …

How to annoy an evolutionist: Creationist makes important fossil discovery in Alberta, Canada

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[by Dean Smith] During the day, Edgar Nernberg is a backhoe operator in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, but at night he promotes his favorite pastime — Creationism. He even helped build the Big Valley Creation Science Museum in Big Valley, Alberta and sits on the museum’s board. The museum was set up to counter Alberta’s Royal Tyrrell museum in Drumheller, that promotes evolution. Edgar even wants to have creationism included in the curriculum of Alberta schools. Contrary to evolutionary theory, Edgar believes the world is about 6,000 years old. Nernberg was excavating a basement in a northwest Calgary subdivision when a sandstone with odd markings caught his attention.  It is now being heralded as one of the greatest fossil finds in Alberta in recent decades — a significant claim considering Alberta is renowned for its fossils.