A local woman is angry with the Township of Ramara’s last-minute decision to cancel a venue rental for a political and religious gathering.
Alberta-based pastor Artur Pawlowski – known for keeping his church open through the COVID-19 pandemic – was set to speak at Ramara Centre on Oct. 29 before township officials cancelled the venue rental and chained the doors shut prior to the event.
The event was billed as a talk about persecution by the Polish-born Pawloski, who stood up “for freedom in Canada during lockdowns,” and was “jailed” and “placed in solitary confinement,” according to a promotional poster for the event.
“He used to live in Poland, so he's lived through communism, so when the lockdowns came down … he knew our rights and freedoms were being stolen, so he was like, ‘I'm keeping my church open. I'm going to continue to feed the hungry,’” said Orillia resident and event attendee, Lynn Kennedy.
Sponsors for the event included 7M Canada, Lake Country Revival, and Action4Canada – a grassroots political group that works to unite people “in opposition to the destructive policies tearing at the fabric of this nation,” while protecting “faith, family, and freedom,” according to its website.
Event organizers were told the rental was cancelled due to the event’s political nature, but more than 100 people showed up and gathered in the Ramara Centre parking lot that chilly Sunday afternoon, Kennedy said.
“It was planned so that anybody that wants to go to church, they can go to their church and then come and hear a Bible sermon here on Sunday at two at the Ramara Centre, but then the Friday prior … the chief administrative officer cancelled the venue,” she said.
“Not only did he cancel the venue, the doors were locked and chained.”
Kennedy has since raised her concerns with township politicians. She argues the event only became political once the township opted to cancel the venue rental.
Township officials, however, say that Ramara Centre is almost exclusively rented out for recreational events, and that no political events are permitted at the venue.
“If (booked by a) political party – Conservative, Liberal, Green and NDP – we wouldn't rent to those either,” said township CAO Zach Drinkwalter.
“The only thing we do allow is voting machines, and we see that as a service to our residents rather than a political event," the CAO told BradfordToday and InnisfilToday Monday.
“The mayor can't rent it during the elections, because it would be considered political, so we just don't rent to political groups.”
Drinkwalter said the organizers were “vague” about what was planned for the event, and he saw a political connection through the event’s sponsors, like Action4Canada.
“At first it was just based on (the Action4Canda) website. A lot of it's to do with the UN and the EU and global affairs, and different government policies that they're against or for,” he said.
Ultimately, he discovered that Pawloski is the leader of a political party – the Solidarity Movement of Alberta Party.
“He's the leader of a political party, so it's pretty clear it's a political event.”
When asked why local venues are not open to political groups, Drinkwalter said municipalities are “bipartisan” organizations, separate from political parties, and that the township tries to reflect that in its venues.
Regarding the lock and chain on the Ramara Centre doors, Drinkwalter said he “felt bad” about the decision, but says they were placed on the doors to prevent event organizers from tripping the building’s alarm system.
“The way our rentals work is we provide a key, and they never returned the key, so we had no way of locking the building, so … we added chains,” he said. “I didn't want my staff to go there on a Sunday if the alarm went off.”
Drinkwalter said rental fees were returned to event organizers, and noted the township did not stop the group from meeting in Ramara Centre's parking lot.
