Tissen pleads guilty to health order violations

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This article was published 05/09/2022 (961 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

An anti-mask, anti-mandate pastor has pleaded guilty to multiple public health act breeches and was handed a hefty set of fines for doing so.

Tobias Tissen, pastor of the Church of God (Restoration) near Pansy, joined a group of individuals accused of breaking public health orders to hold and participate in anti-lockdown rallies decrying COVID-19 restrictions.

Tissen pleaded guilty to eight offences and was fined over $14,000 with seven years to pay the fines. His fines for each conviction ranged from $1,000 to $2,700.

The pastor joined Patrick Allard, Todd McDougall, Sharon Vickner and Gerald Bohemier in a Winnipeg court room last Wednesday morning to enter pleas for the offences. The five participated in rallies throughout 2020 and 2021 which resulted in multiple fines for each person.

Crown attorney Shaun Sass sought fines between $18,000 and $42,000 for each of the five depending on offences committed, saying the fines must be high enough to act as a deterrent.

Alex Steigerwald, lawyer for four of the five scofflaws, asked no fines be imposed.

“They weren’t breaking windows. They weren’t rioting in the streets,” Steigerwald told court. “My clients stood up and protested for something they believed in.”

Judge Victoria Cornick handed down the fines the next day ranging from $14,000 to just shy of $35,000.

“A message must be sent,” she said during her decision.

“Receipt of multiple tickets did nothing to deter the actions of any of these individuals.”

Tissen was arrested in October 2021 on an outstanding warrant for unpaid tickets connected to a May 15, 2021 anti-restriction rally in Winnipeg. In January he was handed fines for not quarantining upon arriving back in Canada after a trip to Mexico in December 2021, a contravention of the Federal Quarantine Act.

According to a video Tissen posted of him receiving the fines from Steinbach RCMP the tickets were worth $17,000.

During his hearing in Winnipeg on Wednesday Tissen said he’s concerned for his “freedom” in relation to the convictions.

“I can’t put into words how disappointed and insecure I feel in Canada,” Tissen said.

In a video posted to social media later that day Tissen said he is “considering all the options that are available.”

“The fight is definitely not over,” he said in the video, alluding to a possible appeal of his fines.

Tissen is part of a group of seven churches who tried to declare public health orders, imposed to slow the spread of COVID-19, a violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Court of Queen’s Bench ruled against them in October 2021, declaring the orders valid and necessary. The group appealed the decision which is set for a hearing in December.