A trial date of Feb. 2 has been set for a Canadian pastor who says authorities are attempting to hold him responsible for $400 million in damages stemming from the trucker protests at the Coutts border crossing between the United States and Canada in 2022.
Canadian preacher and pastor Artur Pawlowski spent almost the entirety of the pandemic in and out of jail, paying fines levied against him for continuing to offer services and refusing to back down. Now, he facing what he describes as his final trial for his 20-minute-long sermon at a protest held by truckers who opposed Canada's COVID-19 restrictions.
"This is the final culmination of over 40 tickets for the COVID tyranny, the house arrest, the prison, all of that stuff," Pawlowski told Fox News. The pastor was arrested five times during the pandemic but continued to perform services.
Meanwhile, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has been allegedly working back channels with the attorney general to see the charges reduced or abandoned. Officials leaked this revelation to the government-funded Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), prompting a response from Smith.
"After taking office, the Premier and her staff had several discussions with the Minister of Justice and Justice department public servants, requesting an explanation of what policy options were available for this purpose. After receiving detailed legal advice and recommendations from the Minister not to proceed with pursuing options for granting amnesty, the Premier followed that legal advice," Smith's office said in a statement responding to CBC's report.
Pawlowski was highly critical of her inaction, Fox News reports:"I think the biggest problem is that she appointed the same villains in her cabinet," Pawlowski said, noting that some of the same cabinet ministers who were caught violating their own COVID-19 rules during a private dinner in 2021 remain in place.
"She's extremely weak," Pawlowski said of the new premier, whom he claims to have known for 15 years since they were both in Alberta's Wildrose Party. "Remember, you're dealing with a flip-flopping politician who crosses the floors, abandons people, promises one thing and changes her mind."
In 2010, a pastoral service founded by Pawlowski lost its government-granted tax-exempt status with officials citing the group's position on homosexuality and abortion precipitating that change in status.
