Yes, Chilliwack Reformed church pastor's $460 in COVID fines were erased, but he still owes $2.5k

Church leaders who proselytized in BC Supreme Court a year ago did not pay most of fines issued for violating rules every other church followed

January 12, 2026

At the risk of allowing the Streisand Effect to give a boost (i.e. cash donations) to far-right religious preachers bragging about having COVID fines erased, it's important to note that the headline only addressed a fraction of what they owe.

There were reports this week that Pastor John Koopman of Chilliwack Free Reformed Church – the white church defended by razor wire on Yale Road West – bragged about how the B.C. Supreme Court relieved him of $460 fines for his unapologetic violations of COVID gathering rules while the rest of us were trying our best. Koopman's self-declared victimization, you might recall, was akin to a school kid bawling tears when his entire class gets a detention as if it were a personal affront to him alone. This is the way of the libertarian narcissist.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was ever-changing science (which is what science does) and guidelines. We were all trying to help figure it out, and 'we' includes leaders of almost all the other Christian churches. Yet Koopman and a handful of miscreant pastors lapped up the publicity from their ignoble "protest." They complained loudly that they couldn't gather then hired lawyers to fight the fines – paid by parishioner dollars, presumably?

The kicker, however, is that while Koopman bragged via a statement from the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedom (JCCF) last week that two $200 fines plus the requisite $30 victim surcharges, a total of $460, were relieved by a judge, he left out a somewhat important detail. He was originally ordered to pay a $2,000 fine issued in 2020 in addition to the mandatory $300 victim surcharge (15 per cent). He also was ordered to pay three other $200 fines plus $30 for each for a grant total of $2,990. The relief given by the court because two tickets had been voided by Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) under section 18 of the Offence Act., was just two of those $200 fines and their $30 victim surcharges.

His fine total of $2,990 was confirmed by Justice Andrea Ormiston in February 2025. His victory in having $460 in fines voided means he still owes $2,530 as of January 2026.

And by "still owes," ya, apparently he still owes it.

Asked to comment on my math and whether or not Koopman was going to appeal the matter further, JCCF lawyer Marty Moore helpfully and promptly responded to a request for comment.

"Your numbers appear correct," Moore told me Friday afternoon. "Pastor Koopman and the other pastors and churches are not advancing further appeals."

As for whether or not they paid what they owed? "I am not aware of these fines being paid to date."

Koopman wasn't the only miscreant picking and choosing which of "man's laws" he would follow in case they didn't align with his particular interpretation of his particular branch of his particular religion's particular god's laws. There was also James Butler from Free Grace Baptist Church in Chilliwack; Timothy Champ from Valley Heights Community Church in Chilliwack; Brent Smith from Riverside Calvary Church in Langley,; and John Van Muyen from Immanuel Covenant Reformed Church in Abbotsford. I'm sure there are others I'm missing.

Unrepentant, unapologetic and quietly indignant to a man, each of them stood before Justice Ormiston in February 2025 unable to refrain for preaching into the court record before being ordered to pay the dozen or so fines in total for holding church services while it was illegal in late 2020 and early 2021.

“I will not concede the worship of god to authority in any way,” Pastor John Koopman said. “Where my commitment to the Lord puts me at odds with this court, I will obey God rather than man.”

Maybe he hoped lightning bolts or angels would come down to surround him as he spoke? As I said back then, luckily he didn't have to obey a man since the judge is a woman.

Van Muyen really had his onesie in a bunch grandstanding it was unfair that churches had restrictions while Costco and Walmart were open and full of strangers who don’t know each other, ignoring the fact that they sell food, which is essential.

“It’s a God-given right to do that as far as we are concerned and a constitutional right,” he said. “Those are the freedoms that we were given in this country and they were never taken away.”

Of the five, Koopman was the most defiant about violating human laws to do what he wanted to worship his personal god, essentially daring some government official not in the room to do it again. 

This was performative bullshit meant for his parishioners so they would open up their wallets and fill his.

“I must say that my convictions remain the same. I will not concede the worship of God to authority in any way under the threat of fine or imprisonment, and I hope the government never puts me in such a position again where my commitment to the Lord puts me at odds with this court. I don’t want to be at odds with this court, but if they do so, I will obey God rather than man.”

Butler's rant was particularly rich as he addressed non-Christians, arguing that he had to violate public health orders because there were people who don't believe precisely what he believes. He has to keep working to make sure everyone believes what he believes. Got it?

“The unbeliever needs the gospel of Jesus Christ.”

Will Koopman or Butler discuss this soul-critical stuff with a non-believer pointing out the hypocrisy? Preaching to the choir.

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Paul J. Henderson
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