Big fines for church in Woolwich Township that held in-person service

Trinity Bible Chapel in Woolwich Township and six church elders have been fined $38,000 after being found in contempt of a court for holding in-person church services.

The church and the elders, which include pastor Jacob Reaume, have also been ordered to pay $45,000 in legal costs.

A Kitchener courtroom heard that more than 200 people gathered for a church service on Jan. 24, which went against the Reopening Ontario Act. It also contravened a court injunction obtained by the province's Attorney General, which told the church to follow the requirements under the Reopening Ontario Act.

That court injunction was issued after the church on Lobsinger Line was ticketed on Dec. 27 and Jan. 3 for hosting gatherings of more than 10 people.

In a court decision, Justice Paul Sweeny said he was "satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that the church intentionally acted in a manner that was in breach of the order when approximately 225 people gathered inside the church" on Jan. 24.

"There is no evidence in this case put forth by the personal respondents that they did anything to ensure that the injunction would be abided by. Indeed, the evidence is to the contrary," Sweeny wrote in a decision following the Jan. 27 court date.

Lisa Bildy, a lawyer from the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, represented the church and praised the elders for taking a "costly stance in defence of fundamental freedoms guaranteed under the charter of rights."

Bildy said in an email to CBC Kitchener-Waterloo Thursday morning that the church has filed a motion to set aside the enforcement order on the basis that the 10-person limit on religious gatherings "is arbitrary, unconstitutional and not demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society. The government will be required to prove its case in court."