The Superior Court has put an end to a legal action brought by a church against the Quebec government which had limited access to places of worship during the pandemic for months, then prohibited its access to the unvaccinated. She decided that the action has become useless and “theoretical” because these health rules are now abolished.
This Baptist church in the Quebec region had risen up against the Quebec state: it should not interfere in the practice of faith and certainly not restrict access to places of worship, she had denounced in an action filed. last February.
His goal was to declare as unconstitutional — and therefore illegal — the ministerial decrees and governmental decrees of Quebec which had placed limits on the number of people who could go to mass, and also imposed subsequently on believers to prove that they are vaccinated before crossing the threshold of churches.
By imposing the vaccine passport, the state has “regimented the clergy” in its action of systematic discrimination and harassment of unvaccinated people, said Pastor Guillaume Boucher-Roy of the Baptist Church of Saint-Augustin.
Quebec had, however, filed a motion to have the action dismissed immediately, before trial, on the basis that the action had become moot.
Judge France Bergeron of the Superior Court agreed with the government. She retains that the vaccine passport is no longer required in places of worship since February 19, and that there are no more limits to the number of people who can be in a church since February 25.
“The question posed by the plaintiffs remains academic since the legal provisions have been abolished”, writes the judge in her decision signed on November 7.
These health rules were already on the verge of being shelved when the action was brought: the plaintiffs nevertheless considered it relevant to challenge them in court because they argued that they could be reactivated, and also because they wanted a judge declares that they contravened a number of constitutional rights protected by the charters, including freedom of religion, freedom of association as well as the right to equality, respect for private life and also the security of person and autonomy over their own body.
This would have placed limits on what governments can do in the future, they argued.
The church was also seeking punitive damages of $100,000 for the “moral and spiritual suffering” its followers suffered during the blackout periods. The magistrate does not address this aspect in her judgment.
The decision can still be appealed.
On Monday, the lawyer for the church and its pastor, Mr.e Samuel Bachand, indicated that no decision had yet been taken on this subject.