Art Lucier, minister at Kelowna based Harvest Ministries International.
Image Credit: YOUTube
August 09, 2023 - 3:00 PM
Art Lucier, the minister for the Kelowna-based Harvest Ministries International, is suing the Quebec government for its June cancellation of a planned Quebec City rally.
Originally booked for the Quebec City Convention Centre in February, the Faith, Fire and Freedom Rally – Battle for Canada was scheduled for June 23-July 2.
Tourism Minister Caroline Proulx ordered the convention centre to cancel the event, which it did on June 1.
She claimed it would promote anti-abortion views, which are contrary to the government’s core values, according to media reports at the time.
In a 45-minute YouTube video broadcast by Eagle Eye Prophetic Perspectives on June 9, Lucier seems to link the June 1 decision with wildfires that roared through Quebec shortly after.
“It would be hours later, on June 2, that over a dozen forest fires simultaneously ignited burning the forests of south-eastern Quebec,” he said at about the 11:30 minute mark of the recording.
Lucier said he watched NASA footage that showed the skies were clear and there were no storms or lightning strikes at the time.
“We don’t know how they started,” Lucier said. “It wasn’t lightning. Simultaneously, all at the same time, you see for hundreds of miles across southeastern Quebec — poof — smoke billows coming up all at the same time on the very day that the government announces how proud they are of their pro-death abortion legislation standing for full-term abortion as they do and that day their forest would start burning.
“I’m not saying it’s connected. I’m just saying that it’s very interesting, isn’t it?”
The government of Quebec does say that a medical abortion is legal at any point during a pregnancy.
Lucier and his church drew media attention in Kelowna in January 2021 when he was handed two $2,300 tickets for holding religious services contrary to provincial COVID restrictions.
He said after getting the first ticket, that he would fight it over a fundamental freedom of conscience and religion issues.
READ MORE: Kelowna church to take on Dr. Bonnie Henry in court
That’s similar to the arguments his lawyers, through the Calgary-based Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, are using in the Quebec case.
“Harvest is claiming damages for ending the rental agreement without notice and for the unconstitutional and unjustified infringement of its Charter rights of freedom of expression and its right to be free from religious discrimination,” the Centre said in a news release.
They counter the anti-abortion argument by quoting Lucier as saying it was actually meant to be a pro-life rally.
“We admit without apology that Harvest holds pro-life positions,” Lucier said in the news release. “But, contrary to what politicians and the media have said, the rally had nothing to do with being against abortion. It was intended to be a Christian event of reconciliation between Canada’s founding peoples.”
The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms says the lawsuit is not about any debate over abortion but “rather the fundamental rights of its members and followers to live their faith, to express it, and to assemble peacefully.”
The news release says Harvest Ministries lost more than $137,000 due to the cancellation so it is claiming compensation and other damages from Proulx and the Convention Centre.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Rob Munro or call 250-808-0143 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.
We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here.
News from © iNFOnews, 2023