MONTREAL -- Montreal police say they are unable to ticket a local pastor whose congregation has repeatedly violated public health recommendations.
For the past month, worshippers have been gathering at the Eglise Nouvelle Creation, whose pastor also broadcasts his sermons online. Under the guise of advocating for freedom, he has encouraged followers to disregard COVID-19 regulations, such as mask wearing.
Worshipper Robert Favreau is among those who attend the church and won't wear a mask.
“I heard about this place and I want to check it out and meet everybody and start organizing some protests,” he said. “We can't just sit back and stay home and do what they want. It's okay to follow orders if the laws are good laws but sometimes, laws have to be broken, especially if they don't make sense.”
Police said they have written several reports about the pastor, saying people inside the church aren't distancing or wearing masks. While the church has also hosted gatherings larger than 25 people, another violation of the regulations, police said they can't hand out fines due to a section of the Criminal Code that prevents them from breaking up religious services.
Police said they are waiting to hear back from the provincial government, who they are calling on to step in an issue an emergency decree giving the SPVM the authority to break up the service.
However, the church appears to have another problem: on Sunday, worshippers were locked out due to the church operating without a permit.
