24 COVID violation tickets against Chilliwack pastors dropped

Two dozen COVID-19 violation tickets against three Chilliwack pastors have been dropped, the B.C. Crown Prosecution Service confirms.

The fines were issued after the pastors continued in-person services, despite B.C. public health orders that banned the practice for several weeks in an effort to limit the spread of the virus.

The group representing the pastors says the fines would have totalled $55,200. Eleven tickets were dropped against Pastor James Butler of the Free Grace Baptist Church, while the Crown dropped seven against Pastor John Koopman of the Chilliwack Free Reformed Church, and six issued to Pastor Timothy Champ with the Valley Heights Community Church.

The prosecution service says in a statement that Crown lawyers reviewed the 24 charges and found the “assessment standard was no longer met,” but noted similar cases remain before the court.

Related articles:

• B.C. drops more than two dozen COVID-19 tickets against religious groups since December

• Three Chilliwack churches fined nearly $20,000 for breaking COVID-19 rules

• Chilliwack churches’ claim COVID-19 order violates Charter likely wouldn’t hold up in court: lawyer

The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms says police began ticketing churches for ignoring health orders to hold services starting December 2020, and that the three pastors amassed 66 tickets between them.

The Justice Centre notes there are still more than 20 outstanding tickets against pastors and churches in the Fraser Valley, adding it plans to defend them “vigorously.”

Between December 2021 and February 2022, Crown lawyers had directed a stay of proceedings for at least 25 tickets against religious groups.

A lawyer with the Justice Centre has previously argued it was a violation of Charter rights to issue some of the tickets in the first place. However, others have explained protections under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms are neither simple nor sweeping.