A Christian pastor in Edmonton, along with her church, will be fined $80,000 for threatening the public’s health and safety by refusing to cooperate with health inspections meant to make sure COVID safety measures were in place.

Last year, as COVID was still wreaking havoc across the country, public health inspectors in Alberta were tasked to make sure people were wearing masks and social distancing. Churches weren’t immune from the rules that applied to all gatherings.

But Pastor Tracy Fortin of Church in the Vine refused to allow those inspectors to come inside her building on multiple occasions. That’s illegal. Section 71 of Alberta’s Public Health Act says “No person shall obstruct, molest, hinder or interfere” with someone whose job is keeping the public safe. There’s no religious exemption to that law. Christians don’t have some special right to spread COVID just because they’re ignorant of how viruses work, or because they don’t give a damn about the health of their neighbors, or because they believe churches shouldn’t be subject to any government regulations.

This was about safety, not interfering with the services, yet Fortin denied inspectors entry on three separate occasions. (She claimed past visits had been “disruptive and disturbing,” though there’s no proof of that.) ...