Manitoba churches file to appeal public health order challenge to Supreme Court

A group of Manitoba churches who argued COVID-19 restrictions infringed on their charter rights has filed an application to take their case to the Supreme Court of Canada.

On Tuesday, the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms announced it has filed an application to have their case heard by Canada's highest court.

The group, which includes five Manitoba churches and three individuals including a minister, had launched a court challenge of Manitoba's public health orders. Lawyers for the group argued the orders, which temporarily closed in-person religious services and then permitted them with caps on attendance, violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

A Court of King's Bench justice ruled against the churches in October 2021, saying the province’s public health orders were neither unconstitutional nor an undemocratic delegation of power. It was a decision Manitoba's Court of Appeal also upheld in its ruling on the matter in June.

Now the group is arguing their case raises issues of national importance that warrant the Supreme Court to hear them out.

"We hope that the Supreme Court of Canada agrees that constitutional issues surrounding closing churches and curbing outdoor protests during a pandemic are worth the Court’s attention and adjudication," Allison Pejovic, a lawyer with the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, said in a news release.

An application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court is usually decided by the full court.