No, not in China, in Alberta.
Pastor Artur Pawlowski has been arrested for inciting people to attend church.
It took a heavily armed squad of brave police officers to subdue the dangerous ecclesiastical criminal who can be seen in the video below in his Sunday best being made to kneel on a wet motorway.
Luckily, the constabulary was fully masked up – as North Americans like to say just to irritate me – to protect themselves from any deadly projectile sneezing that the unmasked pastor may have secretly weaponised. It goes without saying that if the pastor had had the forethought to wield a Black Lives Matter placard, it would be the police who would be kneeling on the wet tarmac.
Prior to this, Pastor Artur had not endeared himself to the local constabulary. He tossed them out of his church, hurling the epithet “gestapo” at them. Not at all inclusive but, then, they were trying to shut down his church service and only the most intrepid or foolhardy will interrupt a preacher when he is in full swing.
I make no claim that the Pastor was right to continue church services in person – my church isn’t – but the police cannot imagine that this episode will do anything but heap ridicule and derision on any attempt to maintain the illusion that their job is to serve and protect. As PR people like to say: “the optics are bad.”
It was an illegal gathering in the Church exposing people to the Covid-19 disease, no social distancing & isolation either, foolish.
…and yet thousands can gather in Nathan Phillips Square to protest over Gaza without any repercussions, “exposing people to the Covid-19 disease, no social distancing & isolation either”.
Some day it’s going to be too late.
As of May 7, 2021, there were 552.23 active COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people in Alberta (228.02/100,000 in Ontario). For most people COVID-19 causes only mild illness. Older people, and those with pre-existing medical conditions appear to be more vulnerable. Therefore, both young and old, we have to continue the precautions, especially double masking, physical distancing, hand-washing, and not gathering in big groups. We may have to do this for another year yet, depending on the behaviour of our neighbours. It will be a long time before I can visit my good friends in Sydney, NSW, Australia.
If only I could find a pastor with such courage in New Brunswick. Cowards the lot of them.
Covid-19 spreads, this act of the Minister spreads Covid-19
In the legal alternative:
Since Provincial Covid Task Force Doctors meet twice weekly with their Federal Task Force Counterparts, and whose Premiers repeatedly have urged The Prime Minister to enact forthwith the closing of both Provincial and Federal borders with appropriate quarantine protocols ensuing, still going unheeded in offensive contempt of the sick, the dying, the mourning, health care providers and essential workers, why does a Court Injunction in Nova Scotia based on “the scientific and medical evidence” against “uninformed or willfully blind” protesters apply?
Or does a two-tier, two-year system of National health security exist:
Beginning and ending at the top?
Provincial Attorneys General??