{"id":572911,"date":"2021-06-24T13:52:30","date_gmt":"2021-06-24T17:52:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=572911"},"modified":"2021-06-24T13:52:33","modified_gmt":"2021-06-24T17:52:33","slug":"i-am-troubled-sen-hawley-asks-u-s-commission-on-international-religious-freedom-to-add-canada-to-watch-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/i-am-troubled-sen-hawley-asks-u-s-commission-on-international-religious-freedom-to-add-canada-to-watch-list\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I Am Troubled\u2019: Sen. Hawley Asks U.S. Commission On International Religious Freedom To Add Canada To Watch List"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">36<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fi-am-troubled-sen-hawley-asks-u-s-commission-on-international-religious-freedom-to-add-canada-to-watch-list%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=572911&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/GettyImages-1323755682.jpg?w=1200&#038;h=800&#038;ixlib=react-9.0.3\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"  style=\"display:none\"><\/div>\n<p>Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) on Thursday urged the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.uscirf.gov\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">USCIRF<\/a>) to consider adding Canada to its watch list after several pastors have been jailed in the country for keeping their churches open.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am troubled that our Canadian neighbors are effectively being forced to gather in secret, undisclosed locations to exercise their basic freedom to worship,\u201d\u00a0Hawley wrote in a letter (full text below) to USCIRF Chair Nadine Maenza and the Ambassador of Canada to the U.S. Kirsten Hillman.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrankly, I would expect this sort of religious crackdown in Communist China, not in a prominent Western nation like Canada. Canadian authorities\u2019 arrest of faith leaders and seizure of church property, among other enforcement actions, appear to constitute systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom,\u201d Hawley continued.<\/p>\n<p>Hawley singled out the case of Pastor Tim Stephens, who awaits his June 28 trial at the maximum-security Calgary Remand Centre, which made <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/canada\/calgary\/calgary-remand-centre-covid-outbreak-1.5822434\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">headlines<\/a> for reportedly triple-bunking inmates despite outbreaks of COVID-19 at the facility. As The Daily Wire <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/give-unto-caesar-alberta-pastor-jailed-again-after-police-helicopter-finds-secret-church-gathering-officer-quotes-jesus-to-justify-arrest\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">reported<\/a>, Stephens was arrested June 14 for the second time after a police helicopter found where members of his Fairview Baptist Church were secretly gathering outdoors. The congregation had been forced out of their building after authorities locked it.<\/p>\n<p>Hawley also mentioned Pastor James Coates of GraceLife Church, who drew international attention earlier this year when he was imprisoned for more than a month in the maximum-security Edmonton Remand Centre. After he was released, Alberta Health Services (AHS) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/exclusive-pastor-and-lawyer-defiant-after-canadian-police-raid-barricade-church-at-dawn\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">raided<\/a> his church facility at dawn, locked it, and barricaded it behind three layers of fencing. Coates\u2019 congregation has since been forced underground and meets in an undisclosed location.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Related<\/strong>: <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/watch-new-documentary-details-government-crackdown-on-canadian-christians-likens-to-communist-china\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">WATCH: New Documentary Details Government Crackdown On Canadian Christians, Likens To Communist China<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnfortunately, Senator Hawley is correct,\u201d Jay Cameron told The Daily Wire, who is the litigation director at the Calgary-based <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jccf.ca\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms<\/a>, which represented both Stephens and Coates in court. \u201cCanada\u2019s escalating aggression toward religious freedom calls for international scrutiny.\u201d He went on to say that both federally and provincially, Canada \u201chas abandoned the plain written text of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which states that Canada\u2019s first fundamental individual right is freedom of conscience and religion.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlong with increasing shifts away from freedom and democracy toward authoritarian government, Canada has seen marked incidents of aggression toward freedom of religion,\u201d Cameron continued. \u201cFor example, the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms represents pastors who have been imprisoned under Premier Jason Kenney\u2019s government in Alberta for gathering peacefully in the exercise of their faith. These churches are gathering in secret because their churches have been seized and barricaded by government; they are forced to change the location of their meetings because \u2018health\u2019 officials actively hunt them to punish them with heavy fines, arrest, and incarceration.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Cameron said Stephens is in jail because he and his congregation chose to exercise their rights \u201cinstead of bowing the knee to oppressive, tyrannical, and arbitrary health orders that politicians sneak around and themselves do not follow.\u201d He also mentioned the case of Pastor Henry Hildebrandt and his Church of God in Aylmer, Ontario, which faces\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lfpress.com\/news\/local-news\/aylmer-pastor-takes-swipe-at-london-mosque-vigil-amid-more-court-fines\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">more than $270,000<\/a> in fines and legal fees. Hildebrandt recently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/our-country-is-slipping-pastor-whose-church-was-locked-by-police-warns-of-growing-state-tyranny\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">spoke<\/a> to The Daily Wire about the ordeals his church is facing.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Related: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/premier-of-canadian-province-jailing-pastors-caught-violating-own-covid-19-rules-24-times-during-one-dinner\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Premier Of Canadian Province Jailing Pastors Caught Violating Own COVID-19 Rules 24 Times During One Dinner<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Read the full text of Hawley\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hawley.senate.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/2021-06\/Hawley-Letter-USCIRF-Canada.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">letter<\/a> below:<\/p>\n<blockquote readability=\"52\">\n<p><em>Dear Chair Maenza:<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>One of the most fundamental human rights is the freedom to practice one\u2019s faith according to the dictates of one\u2019s conscience. Last year, I urged the Department of Justice to bring federal lawsuits to uphold the rights of houses of worship burdened by unjust restrictions. Now I am writing to express my deep concern that this freedom is in peril across our nation\u2019s northern border.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>In recent months, there have been numerous instances of Canadian pastors being arrested and jailed for holding worship services that do not comply with COVID-19 restrictions. On June 14, Pastor Tim Stephens of Fairview Baptist Church in Calgary, who was previously arrested in May, was arrested again at home in front of his wife and children. Media outlets captured heartbreaking video of the pastor\u2019s children sobbing as they held their father\u2019s hand through the barred window of a police car. Pastor Stephens\u2019 alleged violation was holding an outdoor worship service in a park, which was apparently discovered by a police helicopter flying overhead.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Other Canadian pastors, such as Pastor James Coates of GraceLife Church in Spruce Grove, have similarly faced arrests and enforcement actions. Authorities reportedly seized and fenced off the GraceLife Church building in April, which sparked a protest of hundreds of people in opposition to the move.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>I am troubled that our Canadian neighbors are effectively being forced to gather in secret, undisclosed locations to exercise their basic freedom to worship. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms states that \u201c[e]veryone has the following fundamental freedoms,\u201d which include the \u201cfreedom of conscience and religion.\u201d The arrests and actions taken to enforce overly burdensome and unjustified orders, however, do not seem to live up to this praiseworthy statement. Frankly, I would expect this sort of religious crackdown in Communist China, not in a prominent Western nation like Canada.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Canadian authorities\u2019 arrest of faith leaders and seizure of church property, among other enforcement actions, appear to constitute systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom. I urge the Commission on International Religious Freedom to take whatever action is necessary to address and rectify this situation, and consider adding Canada to the Commission\u2019s Watch List.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Thank you for your attention to this pressing matter.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Sincerely,<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Josh Hawley<br \/>United States Senator<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Related: <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><i>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><i>member<\/i><\/a><i>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) on Thursday urged the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) to consider adding Canada to its watch list after several pastors have been jailed in &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2281233,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/GettyImages-1323755682.jpg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"\u2018I Am Troubled\u2019: Sen. 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