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Alberta pastor jailed for holding services during COVID, expected to be released in days, lawyers say

March 17, 2021

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Jailed pastor James Coates is expected to have one of the charges against him withdrawn and will be released soon to await trial on a final charge. Commenting on this recent development, Rev. Dr. Andrew Bennett, director of the Cardus Religious Freedom Institute said, “Different religious traditions have different understandings of the relationship between church and state, there are different theologies at play. The Constitution is quite clear that reasonable limits, the reasonable limits test, is an essential component of determining when can government lawfully restrict certain fundamental freedoms.”