PASTOR IN BRACEBRIDGE CHARGED AT ‘LARGE’ CHURCH GATHERING
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com
BRACEBRIDGE — COVID charges were laid Sunday morning against a pastor in Bracebridge who police say refused to shut down a “large” religious gathering near the OPP detachment.
Provincial police, which are wrestling with enforcement of new provincial emergency lockdown laws, say they responded to a public complaint at a warehouse located on Monica Lane in Bracebridge.
It was reportedly run by the Life Church Muskoka church, which says on its Facebook page it meets Sundays at the Quality Inn, and was attended by 55 people.
Its lead pastors are Dan and Linda Roberts.
A police release late last night said attending officers found a “large group of people inside for a religious gathering, not wearing masks and not practising social distancing.”
The gathering was not in compliance with the restrictions found within the Reopening Ontario Act (ROA).
Officers said they attempted to educate those on hand and have them disperse.
However, police say the pastor refused to co-operate and shut down the church service.
And as a result police say they issued a provincial offence notice for Failing to Comply with Order 10(1) under the Reopening Ontario Act (ROA).
The OPP release says they “request the public voluntarily comply with the new emergency orders and do their part to support the government of Ontario’s health emergency declaration to limit transmission of the COVID-19 virus.”
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April 21, 2021 @ 10:43 pm
You need to get your facts straight. This is not true & the Pastor shut down his service when he didn’t have to. Find out the truth before you publish something. Thats the problem these days you can’t trust the media for truth.
April 25, 2021 @ 9:11 pm
Why don’t the OPP go and disperse the people in Walmart before they worry about 55 people worshiping their God.
June 10, 2021 @ 3:30 pm
This is false! Shame on you for posting misinformation and trying to make this church look bad. They were not operating in some underground warehouse as you make it sound, they were in their building where their church is located. This is the problem with the media and makes it hard to believe the police are looking out for our benefit instead of just finding reasons to charge people!