Drea Humphrey exposes Canada’s COVID-19 restrictions as discriminatory, with British Columbia banning religious gatherings—except church movie filming—while allowing Costcos and Walmarts to stay open; Dr. Bonnie Henry filed injunctions enabling police arrests at Langley-Abbotsford churches. Alberta’s Grace Life Church and Riverside Calvary faced fines or closures despite safety measures, Pastor James Coates arrested twice for defying mask mandates. The RCMP targeted 100 Mile Baptist with daily surveillance and threats, yet churches comply due to fear or media misinformation. Comparing Canada’s actions to ISIS’ Iraqi Kurdistan genocide and China’s alleged Bible rewriting, Humphrey warns of eroding freedoms, even for vulnerable groups like disabled congregants at Vancouver’s Holy Rosary Cathedral, questioning whether Canada’s historical Christian refuge is fading under state overreach. [Automatically generated summary]
Hey Rebels, you're listening to a free audio-only recording of my weekly Wednesday night show, The Gun Show.
Tonight my guest is my rebel colleague, Vancouver-based Drea Humphrey, and we're talking about how these COVID regulations and restrictions on gatherings are an attack on religious freedom.
Dre's done some great work with the churches in British Columbia, and as an outsider looking in, you would think, of course, the far-left-wing radicals in BC, of course, they don't care about religious freedom, but this kind of thing is happening in Alberta, too.
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Are these new COVID restrictions being used to persecute religious people?
I'm Sheila Gunn-Reed, and you're watching The Gunn Show.
I'm back in my home studio today, however, briefly, but the interview for this week's gun show was actually filmed yesterday, so Tuesday at Rebel HQ in Toronto when I was there to celebrate our sixth birthday with my friends and colleagues at the company.
And over our six years of existence, I'm proud to say that one of the main focuses of a lot of my work has been religious freedom, both here in Canada and North America and also abroad.
I even traveled to Iraqi Kurdistan to document how our savethechristians.com initiative and crowdfunding is helping Christians return to their indigenous homeland after the ISIS genocide against them.
However, I think one of the more chilling aspects of the COVID-19 restrictions on all of our lives and gatherings is that it frequently inhibits the fundamental freedom of religion that all Canadians have.
And it's never been more evident than in British Columbia where churches are closed, but bars, pubs, Costco's, Walmarts, and almost everything else is completely open.
And my friend and colleague Drea Humphrey has been the one telling the stories of how churches in BC are fighting back and how the province is trying to stop churches from fighting back with expensive fines and injunctions against them.
So joining me now in an interview we recorded in the beautiful Rebel News HQ boardroom is Vancouver-based rebel reporter Drea Humphrey.
Take a listen.
She and I are both in the Toronto office celebrating our birthday party.
And it's been a crazy year.
And one of the things both she and I have focused on a lot is the persecution of religious people during the pandemic and the crackdown on churches.
And I think it's been particularly egregious in British Columbia.
And that's why you have so many stories.
I was just writing some down before we started about the persecution of people of faith during the pandemic.
What's the situation with churches right now as we're filming this?
We're filming this Tuesday afternoon.
Well the discrimination is quite blatant in British Columbia because largely everything is open.
Nearly everything is open.
You can go to a fun park inside and the kids can all go on an arcade and then go go-karting.
You can go for dinner.
You can go to a pub and drink, but you can't sit down at a church six feet away from another family and listen to the pastor because all religious gatherings are banned in British Columbia.
Except if you are pretending to go to church in the case of filming a movie.
You can film a movie inside a church where people are pretending to engage in a religious service.
That's perfectly safe, but actually attending a religious service is not.
Yes, that's actually happening and perhaps actually the most the church is getting the most punished in BC would be around the Langley-Abbotsford area.
There's three of them where Dr. Bonnie Henry, our public health officer, has actually filed for an injunction.
I'll talk about that in just a second, but in the same city as one of those churches, I caught a movie or a TV show being filmed in a church just down the road.
I mean, it's ridiculous.
There was a full-packed church, lots of trailers, lots of vehicles, and that's okay.
Now, tell me about the injunction.
Yeah, so what happened was with the JCCF, a few of the churches came forward and went to the courts and tried to have their right to be open, just like support groups in BC.
Support groups are able to have 50 people inside at a time with a COVID-19 safety plan in place.
So they filed a petition to be able to do that.
And three churches put their name on the petition, but there were other churches behind it.
And in response to that, our public health officer actually filed for an injunction to give the police the right to, or if it gets granted, they would be able to arrest people who are attending church there.
But get this, also arrest anyone the police feel or have reason to believe was going to attend.
So yeah, whether or not they show up or not, what does that mean?
Does that mean you wrote something on Facebook and now you're getting arrested?
I mean, it's just nuts that this is happening in Canada and that this is what this public health officer thinks is okay.
No, it's interesting that you brought up support groups because a lot of support groups, let's just say Alcoholics Anonymous, NA, a lot of those take place in the basement of a church.
And so 50 people can go to a support group in the basement of a church in British Columbia, and yet they can't go upstairs and sit in the pews.
Yeah.
So to me, what is it?
It's religion.
It's religion that spreads the virus because there's no other way to explain that.
And also why can churches, I heard somebody else say this, but why can churches be trusted to have an AA meeting or have a daycare in their church, but they can't be trusted to follow COVID safety plans when they're preaching.
In Alberta here, I've covered some churches who are being targeted by the Alberta Health Services for, not for being open, because our churches are allowed to be open with reduced capacity, but for either being over capacity or for not being particularly strict and uptight on the mask, the wearing of masks.
And for me, when I see these churches, I see that they're actually being compliant with human rights legislation.
What like don't ask, don't tell kind of thing with human rights legislation with regard to wearing the masks.
And over the weekend, I was at a church west of Edmonton, Grace Life Church, where the church has been, because they have decided that if worshipers want to come, we are not turning anybody away at 15% capacity.
And if you don't want to wear a mask and you say that you're exempt, that's good enough for them, as the law states.
Exactly.
And that church has been ordered closed by an executive order of the public health officer, Dean Hinshaw.
However, they remain open.
Last weekend, the pastor there, Pastor James Coates, was arrested.
And again, this week, he was, we're filming this on Tuesday.
So Tuesday morning, he was to appear before Justice of the Peace.
He did hold service again on Sunday.
I was there.
They welcomed me and it was great to be in a young, vibrant, normal church full of people and no masks.
But the RCMP decided not to arrest him there and they wanted him to turn himself in today, Tuesday, the first business day after the long weekend.
And so today he's, I suppose, turning himself in his lawyers with the Justice Center for Constitutional Freedoms.
But I never thought that I would see a day, particularly in Jason Kenney's conservative Alberta, where pastors are being arrested for not turning away their congregants.
And you were on scene a very similar situation with the Riverside Calvary Church.
Yeah, so with them, they've got a really good COVID-19 plan in place.
They do about three services to make sure that the congregants are split up.
They have, most of them are masking and they do contact tracing, like you have to sign up online and everything like that.
But still, they had the police out their door and got the fines and everything like that.
They were left alone for a few weeks, but there was somebody else, and I find this ironic too.
So a spa owner, I believe, or no, sorry, a hair salon owner in the same plaza.
She's got her business open.
She's got her customers and she's complaining.
Kepts complaining over and over that, you know, people are going to church.
So I don't know how one business looks at anybody else for having people over and does that.
So they ended up getting fined again.
But also when I was at Harvest Ministry Church in Kelowna, I think that that was a really good example of, you know, just the other side of the story with this, how much churches have to offer communities.
I mean, there was more than, I think there were four people who were actually brave enough to come forward and tell their story about where they thought they would be if that church wasn't taking the stance of being open and most of it was suicide.
There's one gentleman who had just weeks before came off the streets of Eastside Vancouver and was doing heroin.
And so again, the simple request of being recognized or treated like a support group or even as a pub at this point, it's not too much to ask.
You know, I had a similar experience with a church that is so essential to the congregants, and that was the church in Prince Albert that we are helping through FightTheFines.com.
They got a $14,000 fine.
And then one of their evangelists also received a $3,000 fine for the crime of not singing or of not wearing masks when they were singing.
And this is one of the poorest churches I've ever been to in my entire life.
They are downtown Prince Albert.
A lot of their ministry is to Indigenous and Aboriginal people in some of the reserves.
So a lot of the people that they help, because of where they're at, people struggling with homelessness, mental illness, and addiction, and all of those three sort of always go hand in hand.
They don't have the money to be paying this fine.
But not only that, to ask a church, even if they had the money, to divert their funds that are meant for saving lives, because that's what they're doing, to give it to the provincial government for the crime of not wearing masks.
I mean, truly, truly outrageous and unkind.
When I was at Gracelife Church over the weekend, you know, they really did address some of the controversy that you often hear from other Christians who say, well, isn't staying home and engaging in online services isn't that loving your neighbor?
Yeah, I think that's the number one thing that people at home who don't want to ruffle any feathers.
But I think it's a surprising response.
Number one, if you're comfortable and you're feeling spiritually fed from home on Zoom, great.
Just because a church is open to the people who aren't like you doesn't mean you're forced to go there on Sunday.
You can still stay home.
You just have the online option.
But I am surprised that so many are forgetting how much the church does.
And again, in BC, the contrast between literally almost everything being open but the church should be enough to say what's going on here.
Well, and you know, to say that the only way you can love your neighbor is by staying home denies people a sense of community.
And so many people, church is their community.
And for a lot of people, when they are cut off from their co-workers because everybody's working from home, they can't see their parents because their parents are elderly and they're in a nursing home.
Church is their solace and their community and their family.
100 Mile Baptist Fight00:06:26
And if you're comfortable, like you say, engaging in online services and that's all you need, fine.
But that's not all what everybody needs.
I wanted to ask you about 100 Mile Baptist because you have been really, I think you're probably doing more important work fighting for religious freedom.
It reminds me of my burger, my eating for freedom on the burger beat.
I mean, I did, we did eat burgers.
We did help a lot of small businesses, but you have been traveling all around British Columbia on the religious freedom beat.
You went all the way to 100 Mile Baptist.
What happened there?
Yeah, so 100 Mile Baptist, it was quite interesting.
It's a small place and it seems like the police just really, the RCMP really went militant there.
So it was immediately they were getting threatened.
The pastor was being threatened with arrest, you know, like the period of education is over and it goes right to that.
And then of course they had the fines as well.
And, you know, in my opinion, it was harassment, what they were receiving there.
So they stuck to the part of the criminal code where it says that, you know, you can't interrupt religious services.
I think that's section one.
I'm going to ruin it.
176 is what I'm saying.
Justin will find it.
Yes.
Yeah, so they stuck to that and they kind of held their guns.
But every day the RCMP was showing up and taking down license plates and really intimidating the churchgoers.
When I ended up showing up there, I tried to ask a question.
The RCMP took off and drove out of the parking lot and left and actually did leave them alone after that.
They didn't respond to my media inquiry, but they did leave them alone for, I think, a few weeks, which was not what they were getting before.
But I have heard that the RCMP has come back.
They do tend to kind of leave them alone.
But when they're asked, they say they're there for an investigation.
So they're gathering evidence and they are still taking license plates.
So, yeah.
You know, I do give a lot of credit to the BC churches because here in Alberta, we are not seeing a lot of churches that are being non-compliant to the 15% capacity.
Now, is that a symptom of the fact that people just don't go to church anymore?
So it's a number that they can easily meet.
That could be some of it.
But in British Columbia, there are quite a few churches that are fighting back.
Really, in Alberta here, it's maybe two, maybe three, and they're both either Grace Life Church or affiliated with Grace Life Church in La Crete.
And I think on the flip side, that's why the Burger Rebellion was so successful is because it was, it started with one restaurant owner and then it was two restaurant owners, then it was 10 restaurant owners, and it was all the customers.
And then it was the food suppliers who were donating their time and supplies to keep the restaurants going.
In Alberta, it's really just Pastor James Coates and the sister church in La Crete who are standing up, at least quite publicly, in an act of civil disobedience.
There might be others doing it quietly and God bless them for that, but Pastor James Coates has been arrested for this in Alberta.
Why do you think that it's other Christian leaders?
I mean, I look at this through a Christian worldview and I'm sure you do.
And we have plenty of viewers from all different faith backgrounds and people who are not of any sort of religious background, but also care deeply about freedom and conscience rights.
But why do you think that, you know, as Christians, we're really a church soaked in the blood of martyrs.
Why now are we so compliant to what the state calls us to do?
Well, I think it's a comfort thing and I think sometimes it's fear and I think maybe sometimes it's education because if you're only looking at the mainstream media to follow what's happening in the church, you may believe that these churches are super spreaders, which they have not been proven to be in Canada.
You may believe that they're just reckless and that they're not doing what God is calling them to do.
So, you know, having a more round education.
But then I also started thinking, well, overall, the church in Canada hasn't really taken a big stand against persecution of Christians even outside of the world.
That's true.
We've been very comfortable in Canada and, you know, out of sight, out of mind.
And I think when people are at home, safe in their own bubble, they're doing the same thing here.
Not everybody's home is a sanctuary.
Not everybody's home is somewhere healthy to be.
And sometimes the church is exactly where people need to be.
And Christians should be standing up for that.
I think you might be right on the whole issue of education and what persecution really looks like.
I know there are a lot of people who, even Christians, who are completely unaware of the persecution of the Christian church around the world, unaware of the genocide that took place in northern Iraq, unaware of the fact that China is currently rewriting the Bible as we speak and making the Catholics in China be loyal to the communist state as opposed to the Pope in Rome.
And so I think a lot of people are just completely tuned out to that.
And I think because of that, they don't recognize persecution at home when it's happening.
And over the weekend, Pastor James Coates also gave a very interesting sermon at Grace Life.
And as he was preaching from the pulpit, he was under the impression that he would be arrested that day as he got off the pulpit.
And he said, it really doesn't matter if what's happening here today is persecution.
It doesn't matter because we're still doing what we're supposed to be doing.
Preaching Gospel Amid Persecution00:03:01
Right.
Riverside Calvary at the last Sunday a couple days ago, Pastor Brent said, you know, I'm preaching and I don't know if this is the last one I'm going to be able to preach.
I mean, these pastors are preaching the gospel not knowing, or they're preaching the gospel like it's their last day.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Now, just to make sure that my Catholic brothers and sisters out there don't feel as though I've completely abandoned you for the Protestants.
Drea, you've covered the pilgrimage of the parishioners to the Holy Rosary Cathedral in Vancouver because the cathedral is closed, which is horrific for me to say out loud as a Catholic, but the cathedral is closed.
So they are having a weekly pilgrimage to outside the cathedral to gather together and to say mass and there's the priests are in attendance.
Yeah, so every Sunday, rain or shine, they've been out there, I think, for ever since actually November when the restriction on the churches came out.
So they're out there, rain and shine, and they're out across the cathedral and a priest does show up.
I think the priests alternate, but it does show that priests are supporting this as well.
They do their worship out there as well.
Mark Donnelly is usually present.
And so he was the former Vancouver Canadian anthem singer for the Canucks.
So he's usually present there and leads them in worship as well.
It's quite a somber thing to see, you know, to see the Christians out on their knees in the rain, you know, praying and worshiping and they can't do it across the street or they can't do it in anywhere, any place of worship right now.
And there was one disabled elderly lady who actually had just found out about that, that, and she was so excited because she was going on about how all of her support systems have come to an end.
And so she said, I will be here in my wheelchair unless it's snowing.
I'm so happy that this gathering is taking place.
So I really, really enjoyed doing that report and seeing them there taking that stand.
As a Catholic myself and as someone who has traveled to the Middle East to see the persecution of Christians firsthand, Christians barred from attending their churches and practicing their faith,
it alarms me to see even a fraction of that creeping in here when I know that many of the Christians there who face persecution would love to come here because they've been promised that this is a place where you can worship freely and the state is not going to harass you for it.
Religious Persecution Amidst Pandemic00:02:51
We're supposed to be a safe haven for the religiously persecuted.
And right now, because of the coronavirus, our religious are persecuted.
Absolutely.
And is it because of the coronavirus?
Because again, in BC, one of the gatherings we are allowed last I checked was a drive-in ceremony.
And I have been unable to find any churches doing that.
So do they really think that type of sermon is going to spread COVID?
Like what's happening here?
Are people just getting comfortable, you know, at home and doing it on Zoom or whatnot?
But it's super alarming.
Like you said, you've done a lot of work out there.
I haven't done the type of work that you have, but I've been on the beat with communist China and things like that.
And so to just see a taste of that happening in the land of the free.
And we're not noticing.
We're not noticing and we're cheering it on in many ways.
We're told it's compassion for our fellow man to stomp on the rights of our friends and neighbors.
Yeah, it's actually really alarming and really terrifying.
And hopefully there'll be a shift.
Well, Drea, thank you so much for coming on the show.
It's a pleasure as always.
And it's a treat to talk about something that is so important to both you and I.
And I think to our viewers at home, again, if even if you're not religious, I think most of the people who support us and tune into us are here because they care deeply about freedom for everybody, not just for themselves and for people who believe and think just like them.
So thanks again, Drea, and let's get back to our birthday party.
Yeah, thank you guys.
And special thank you to the people who are not religious but totally get it.
Yeah, it's always nice to see those comments online.
Like Drea and I both tried to explain at the end of our interview, the freedom to not believe is actually the very same freedom as religious freedom.
It's the freedom to believe whatever you want completely unmolested by the state, to worship or for that matter, not worship, to gather or not gather.
And you cannot have freedom of conscience unless you give it to everybody, even those that don't believe the same as you and would even dare to criticize the way that you believe.
Well, everybody, that's the show for tonight.
Thank you so much, as always, for tuning in.
I'll see everybody back here in the same time, in the same place next week.
Or you know what not?
I'm not going to make that promise because who even knows where I'll be next these days.