Police can’t fine rule-flouting church
Police say they can’t fine a church in St-Michel which holds unmasked gatherings, but CTV notes that attendees were locked out on Sunday because the church was operating without a permit. So maybe authorities have found a way to get around the legal limitations on what police can do around churches.
dhomas 04:15 on 2020-12-07 Permalink
Montreal media seems to have a problem with the word “flaunting”. It’s at least the second time I see them use it instead of “flouting”.
Insert Inigo Montoya meme: “you keep using that word, I do not think it means what you think it means”.
steph 09:59 on 2020-12-07 Permalink
Seems like the rule not to break up religious services was easily resolved by withdrawing the religious permit.
Kate 10:26 on 2020-12-07 Permalink
dhomas, it’s still “flaunting” on the CTV headline Monday morning.
Matthew H 11:56 on 2020-12-07 Permalink
It says “flouting” now. They even updated the URL.
Kate 12:05 on 2020-12-07 Permalink
Montreal City Weblog, fixing English usage in Montreal one word at a time.
You know one thing that’s kind of disappeared since I kvetched about it a couple of years back? Calling traffic jams “headaches”. I made the case that encouraging drivers to situate their discomfort inside their own bodies was unhelpful to an extreme. Seems some people listened.
Chris 12:46 on 2020-12-07 Permalink
“Police said they can’t hand out fines due to a section of the Criminal Code that prevents them from breaking up religious services.” First, that’s a non-sequitur. They could hand out fines without actually breaking up the service.
But, sigh. Yet another privilege for people just because they have an opinion on how the universe was created and how people should conduct themselves. The Constitution grants Freedom of Assembly but it’s been temporarily taken away from everyone else, it should be taken away from these people too, it doesn’t matter the purpose of their assembling.
Daisy 13:32 on 2020-12-07 Permalink
There is a very old tradition that churches are sanctuary spaces. This is why sometimes people at risk of deportation occasionally end up living in churches for months at a time, such as people whose refugee claims were denied.
Chris 13:51 on 2020-12-07 Permalink
Child marriage is a very old tradition also. Something being an old tradition doesn’t automatically mean we should continue it. Besides, we’re talking about a temporary change, not a permanent one.
Tim S. 14:48 on 2020-12-07 Permalink
And just because something is associated with religion doesn’t automatically mean it’s a bad idea.
Also, I hate to break it to you Chris, but getting rid of organized religion will not prevent people from being assholes. Check out the Pornhub discussion for non-religious alternatives to child marriage.
Chris 16:09 on 2020-12-07 Permalink
>And just because something is associated with religion doesn’t automatically mean it’s a bad idea.
Correct, of course. It being “associated with religion” isn’t why “it’s a bad idea”. It’s a bad idea because there’s a very contagious virus going around. The type of gathering is irrelevant. It being a religious gathering is irrelevant (or should be). All large gatherings should be prohibited. Why should these folks be exempted? Because they have a profound opinion about something? So what, we all do, on innumerable topics.
>Also, I hate to break it to you Chris, but getting rid of organized religion will not prevent people from being assholes.
Also correct, of course. But I made no such argument.
mare 16:16 on 2020-12-07 Permalink
Don’t we have a state of emergency that gives extended powers to the police? I hope they don’t have to use it but this seems like one of the cases they should. Before you know it we have church weddings with hundreds of people. And busy funerals afterwards, possibly related.
Kate 16:37 on 2020-12-07 Permalink
mare, as the piece says toward the end, there’s something in the Criminal Code that stops police from interfering in church services. I don’t know what the law actually says and would be curious to know.
I have a feeling it may date from the response to the era when Duplessis tried to stamp out the Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Ephraim 17:40 on 2020-12-07 Permalink
I thought that there was a limit of 25 people at a church? Nothing stopping police from handing out tickets after counting the first 25 to leave, no?
Chris 19:04 on 2020-12-07 Permalink
Ephraim, mare, read the article. The police refuse, and claim they can’t.
GC 19:49 on 2020-12-07 Permalink
Handing out tickets to people as they leave would not require breaking up the service…I guess? I have also not read the law in question, nor am I legally trained…but there must be a creative way around this?
Ephraim 11:42 on 2020-12-09 Permalink
Chris… the can’t and they refuse are two different things. They refuse is punishable by being taken to the commission, by time off without pay, demotion, service in the office, etc. It’s dereliction of duty. And the superior who accepts this, without legal proof, should be replaced. That’s why we change police chiefs. (And frankly, we still need one with some gumption anyway, since they all let them get away with racism.)