Pastor Derek Reimer of Calgary’s Mission 7 Ministries was back in a Calgary courtroom this morning for a breach proceeding tied to his conditional sentence order (CSO) from December 2024.

Reimer had previously been released and has been serving his sentence under strict conditions since. Today’s hearing centred on allegations from the Crown that he had violated those terms.

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The Crown prosecutors alleged multiple breaches, including misusing time at court by giving a media interview inside the courthouse with Rebel News, indirectly contacting the complainant, Calgary Public Library manager Shannon Slater by mentioning her position (library manager) in three separate interviews (counted as three separate breaches), and refusing to complete a court-ordered apology letter to Slater.

The direction of the case changed once proceedings began.

Reimer admitted to misusing his time at court by conducting the Rebel News interview inside the courthouse. Following that admission, the Crown dropped all remaining breach allegations.

Defence lawyer Alain Hepner characterized the situation as an error in judgment, explaining that the Crown’s primary concern was that Reimer should have gone straight home after court rather than stopping to give an interview.

The enforcement of a court-ordered apology letter — which had previously been treated as a serious breach — was dropped once the joint submission was presented.

The Crown and defence ultimately brought forward a joint submission to the court. The recommendation was that Reimer be released on the existing terms of his CSO.

Under that arrangement, Reimer will serve the remaining 15 days of his CSO. Once that period concludes, he will be free from the 24/7 house arrest condition. However, he will remain subject to probation conditions for two years, all of which relate to restrictions surrounding drag-related events.

He will also remain on bail until the conclusion of his trial, currently scheduled for April 27.

The court accepted the joint submission, meaning no additional penalties were imposed beyond completing the remaining portion of his sentence.

Reimer released a statement after the breach allegations were dropped:

Today was a huge victory, and I’m not guilty of all charges, with the exchange of simply admitting that going straight home after court would have avoided a breach. I still think that breach is ridiculous and was designed to silence me, as we all know my beliefs and opinions are really what’s on trial here, hence being on a social media ban.

"Also, the forced apology letter couldn’t hold water, and I believe the Crown knew that and wants it to go away quietly," he said. "We’re now preparing for the re-trial in April and expecting another victory again, in Jesus’ name!"