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COVID-19 Tag

08 Jul 2021 God’s Care

Posted at 17:18h in Blog, Fundamental Freedoms 0 Comments
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By Ed Hoogerdyk   I love Manitoba. Of course, I’m biased. I lived there for four years. My wife grew up there. Many in her family still live there. If you haven’t been, you owe it to yourself to visit. There’s more to Manitoba than skeeters, winter, and the Jets. And if you check out the Reformed Churches in the area, you’ll love the people. Friendly Manitobans. Hard-working folks with a heart for service and community. But their strong sense of community was rocked recently because of a tragic accident affecting so many...

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05 May 2021 Ontario Bill 203 – More Than a Visitor

Posted at 12:50h in Bills and Motions, Elder Care 0 Comments
3 Likes

COVID-19 has had a devastating effect on congregate care settings, not just in terms of the rapid spread of the virus but also in the banning of visitors, including those who had been active participants in the care or support of a loved one. While exceptions have been made, the ability to visit and care for loved ones in congregate care settings has been severely hampered. A new bill introduced by Ontario NDP MPP Lisa Gretzky is looking to fix this and to set up the province for a better response...

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04 May 2021 COVID-19 Fact Sheet

Posted at 12:00h in Justice and Freedom 0 Comments
19 Likes

Updated March 4, 2021   Information about COVID-19 abounds. Whether you are perusing the local newspaper, scrolling through social media, or talking to friends, COVID-19 dominates discussions. However, all this information is rarely presented in a single place or presented in an easy-to-understand way. Sometimes, different friends or news stories may report very different facts. We have created this fact sheet in response to the many questions around COVID-19. We hope it will be a helpful resource for individual supporters, parents, church councils, and business owners to inform their response to the virus....

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21 Apr 2021 The Federal Budget Misses the Mark

Posted at 10:54h in Economics 0 Comments
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On April 19, the federal government released its 2021-2022 budget, its first budget in two years and the first since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Back in September, ARPA called on the government and all the opposition parties to craft a fiscally responsible plan aimed at returning Canada to a balanced budget or at least a declining debt-to-GDP ratio. This budget misses that mark by $155 billion dollars – that is the projected size of this year’s federal deficit. As for the debt-to-GDP ratio, that is not projected to decline...

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21 Apr 2021 Let the Church be the Church Campaign

Posted at 10:47h in Campaigns, Fundamental Freedoms 0 Comments
38 Likes

It’s been over 13 months since the first Covid-19 restrictions were enacted across Canada. Since then, ARPA has launched targeted campaigns in British Columbia and Ontario and encouraged Reformed Christians in all provinces to use emails, phone calls, petitions, letters to the editor, and social media to ask their provincial leaders to allow church leadership to make the decision on how Christians can safely gather for corporate worship. We argued that corporate worship is an essential activity and that these restrictions are unconstitutional. At various times and places, we have pointed out that the...

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12 Apr 2021 Live Not By Fear: A Call To Exude Hope Amidst a COVID-Infatuated World

Posted at 14:32h in Blog, Public Theology 1 Comment
8 Likes

By Mark Penninga This blog post was originally published in a print edition of Christian Renewal and is reposted here.   There are times when I see massive challenges on the horizon and can’t help but worry. Like the spies who scouted out Canaan and reported back to the Israelites, I can feel as small as a grasshopper compared to what I’m facing (Numbers 13:33). I’m not alone. Throughout this country, I see Christians who made it through the past year with more gray hair and lines of worry on their faces. Many are...

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19 Mar 2021 BC Supreme Court Upholds COVID-19 Restrictions on Worship Services

Posted at 12:13h in Fundamental Freedoms 0 Comments
8 Likes

In a disappointing ruling released last night, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of British Columbia upheld the prohibition of in-person worship services. These restrictions were first implemented on November 19th, 2020, and continue to this day. Many Christians will be very disappointed, perhaps even angry, with this decision. Reformed Christians have an earnest, deeply-held belief that they must both respect the governing authorities and gather regularly to worship with other believers. The absolute prohibition of in-person worship services placed many Christians in an unfair dilemma, making it very difficult...

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16 Mar 2021 Grassroots Campaign on worship services in Ontario

Posted at 16:31h in Action Items, Fundamental Freedoms 0 Comments
5 Likes

After lockdowns last Spring and again this past Winter, Ontario has returned to the colour-coded system with most regions returning to either 'red', 'orange', or 'yellow' zones. As a result, churches in those regions are now able to meet again with a 30% capacity cap for worship services. Some congregations in areas like Toronto, Peel, and Lambton remain in the 'grey' zone – under lockdown. As such, we were happy to hear the announcement on March 12 that allows for a 15% capacity for in-person worship servcies while a region...

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09 Mar 2021 Recap of the Beaudoin v. B.C. Court Hearings on B.C.’s Prohibition of Corporate Worship

Posted at 12:03h in Fundamental Freedoms, Legal Cases 0 Comments
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Last week, the BC Supreme Court spent four days (March 1-3, 5) hearing the case of Beaudoin v. BC, where three BC churches are challenging the Provincial Health Order prohibiting in-person worship services. The case was heard by Chief Justice Hinkson, the Chief Justice of the BC Supreme Court, and now we await his decision. The Chief Justice had rejected an injunction request from the government in mid-February when the province tried to force the closure of churches that continued to hold in-person worship services contrary to the public health orders. The...

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19 Feb 2021 Updates on Worship Service Restrictions in British Columbia

Posted at 11:56h in Fundamental Freedoms 2 Comments
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Update #1: Injunction Against Churches Dismissed Earlier this week, the Supreme Court of British Columbia denied the government’s request for an injunction against a number of churches in British Columbia that continue to carefully hold corporate worship services contrary to the provincial health order in accordance with their conscience. This is not the final decision in this court case. An injunction is a temporary court order designed to force a specific group of people to do or not do something until the court makes a final decision on their case. In this instance,...

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