Canada’s Court of Appeal Suspends Sentence for Pastor Ordered to Recite Government’s Views About COVID

Canada’s Court of Appeals suspended a judge’s order that required Pastor Artur Pawlowski, his brother Dawid and restaurant owner Chris Scott to state the government’s views about COVID-19 whenever they spoke out against Alberta Health Services (AHS) Covid restrictions or vaccine mandates.

According to Rebel News, which first reported the news, “The stay is pending an expedited appeal of Germain’s original judgement that also levied steep fines, fees and community service as punishment for the trio. That appeal will be heard on June 14, 2022.”

As reported by The Daily Citizen, Justice Adam Germain had ordered that whenever the brothers were speaking or writing against AHS health orders, they were required to say something like:

I am also aware that the views I am expressing to you on this occasion may not be views held by the majority of medical experts in Alberta. While I may disagree with them, I am obliged to inform you that the majority of medical experts favour social distancing, mask wearing, and avoiding large crowds to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Most medical experts also support participation in a vaccination program unless, for a medical reason, you cannot be vaccinated. Vaccinations have been shown statistically to save lives and to reduce the severity of COVID-19 symptoms.

The court left in place the requirements that Pawlowski, pastor of Street Church Ministries and The Cave of Adullam in Calgary, Alberta, pay $23,000 in fines, undergo 18 months of probation and serve 120 hours of community service. Likewise, Dawid Pawlowski was still required to pay his $10,000 fine, serve one year’s probation and provide 120 hours of community service work.

Chris Scott, who owns the Whistle Stop Café, along with a gas station, convenience store and campground, was arrested after hosting a protest with 1,500 people on his Alberta property. His café was closed, and authorities seized his other businesses.

Scott was required to post Germain’s words on his social media posts. Like the Pawlowski’s, the other parts of his sentence were left in place.

Rebel News has raised funds from more than 22,000 donors to help pay for Pastor Pawlowski’s legal fees. The news outlet has a separate legal aid fund for other Canadian business owners and individuals who have been fined for not following vaccine laws and has taken more than 2,200 cases.

Ezra Levant, founder of Rebel News, applauded the decision, saying the judge’s speech requirement was “bizarre and unconstitutional” and that “the prosecution didn’t even ask for that” part of the sentence.

Street Church Ministries describes itself as “a multi-denominational, multi-ethnical ministry of believers, who have been reborn in the spirit of the Lord, coming together to take part in the call of Acts 1:8.” The church holds meetings four times a week at the steps of Calgary’s City Hall and feeds thousands of homeless each week. 

According to The Cave of Adullam’s Facebook page, the name comes from I Samuel 22. “The Cave of Adullam was originally a stronghold referred to in the Old Testament, near the town of Adullam, in which David, already anointed to succeed Saul as king, sought refuge from the latter,” the church explains.

It says that the term “has been used by political commentators referring to any small group remote from power but planning to return.”

The brothers were born in in Communist Poland and have been outspoken in their criticisms of AHS restrictions on church services during the pandemic. Pawlowski made headlines last year after chasing Calgary police and health officials from his church, calling them “Nazis” and “Gestapo.”

Pawlowski recently announced that he was starting the Solidarity Movement of Canada, based on the Solidarity movement that helped bring down communism in Poland. He believes that Canadian government responses to the covid pandemic are similar to the totalitarianism that he saw while growing up in Poland. 

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Photo from Facebook.