Church in the Vine heading to trial for obstructing health inspectors

Pastor Tracy Fortin and the Edmonton-area church face the potential for hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines for three separate alleged breaches of COVID regulations when Fortin stopped Alberta Health inspectors from interrupting church services to check for coronavirus compliance.

Tracy and her husband, Pastor Rodney Fortin, have been outspoken lockdown critics from the onset of the restrictions on places of worship.

Church in the Vine did not police congregants for restriction adherence on behalf of health authorities and, instead, the Fortins wrote religious exemptions for those seeking to continue education and employment opportunities upon the imposition of vaccine mandates in workplaces and universities in Alberta.

Sunday after Sunday, health inspectors tried to gain access to worship services at Church in the Vine and week after week, Tracy denied the inspectors access, protecting the sacred nature of prayer and in-person fellowship for church-goers.

Eventually, Tracy and the church as an entity were charged with several regulatory offences. The Fortins lawyer, provided through your generous crowdfunding donations to www.FightTheFines.com, James Kitchen, told Rebel News he plans to argue that Tracy was justified in preventing the inspector's access to prevent a breach of the right to religious freedom and free association by the government agents.

Trial begins Tuesday.

To support the Fortins and Church in the Vine as they fight to protect their worship services from the invasive inspections of the government, please visit www.FighttheFines.com. A partnership with the registered Canadian charity The Democracy Fund allows each donation to qualify for a tax receipt.