I went to meet up with the founder of Mission 7 Ministries, Pastor Derek Reimer to discuss the latest on pastor prosecutions. As I reported a few weeks ago, when Calgary police officers approached volunteers from Mission 7 Ministries to threaten them with fines starting at $10,000 - since then, Pastor Derek received a court summons for feeding the homeless in downtown Calgary while preaching the gospel.

This wouldn't be the first time Pastor Derek was ticketed for taking care of those in need. Just earlier this year, Derek was ticketed for using amplification during the City of Calgary Mayor, Jyoti Gondeck's heinous no-honking Injunction following the invocation of her so-called "Emergency Injunction."

This is her response to the outcry of local Calgarians? Tickets, fines, and everything not nice.

The weekly protests in downtown Calgary initially began to protest the unscientific COVID mandates and restrictions.

Beyond honking, the injunction prohibited lawful protesting and went on for weeks. The only way to bypass Gondeck's vengeful injunction was to be granted a permit by the City of Calgary, which we all know, that the mayor has a hand in deciding. After all, how could it not?

And what's more? During the injunction, Calgary still held its annual Comic-Con parade (in anticipation of the expo that would follow) during a time when amplification and blocking off roads was basically illegal.

Huge double standard their folks.

If you couldn't already guess, the parade did all of that and more. Even Calgary Mayor Jodi Gondeck made an appearance and participated in leading the announcements for the parade, which essentially broke every outlined bylaw at the time which others were ticketed for.

The injunction was finally lifted in early May 2022, just days after The Democracy Fund filed an appeal to have it dropped.

In addition to the vengeful injunction, and despite Mission 7 Ministries having met the city of Calgary's criteria to be granted a religious exception to continue feeding the poor during COVID restrictions, it seems the double standard would continue to rear its ugly head in the face of those not considered essential by the government of Canada and would be ticketed three previous times for feeding the homeless.

Even if the city would not deem his role as "essential," it does not take away from the essential role Pastor Reimer, plays in the many lives of others.

For more details on Derek Reimer's upcoming court case that is to take place on February 28, 2023, I will be meeting with his defence lawyer, the amazing Sarah Miller of JSS Barristers early in the new year.