The Church has pleaded not guilty to a $2,500 ticket and filed a Charter claim in the Quebec Superior Court.
Montreal— TDF-funded lawyers representing the Ministerios Restauración Church in Montreal have filed legal defences to the $2,500 bylaw ticket issued against the Church by the City. In July 2025, the Church held a prayer service with U.S.-based musician Sean Feucht. Montreal police and city officials tried to shut down the prayer service. Anti-Christian protesters threw a smoke bomb inside the Church. Shortly thereafter, the City issued a ticket with a fine of $2,500 alleging that the prayer service was not authorized by the appropriate City bylaw.
TDF-funded lawyers have since filed a defence to the bylaw ticket, pleading "not guilty" at Montreal municipal court. In addition, TDF lawyers brought an appeal for judicial review to the Quebec Superior Court alleging that, by issuing the ticket, the City abused its power and infringed the Charter rights of the Church. The appeal seeks to have the ticket expunged and a declaration that the Church has a right to hold praise and musical prayer events pursuant to the governing bylaw. The City has yet to file a response, and no date has been set for the hearing.
TDF litigation director, Mark Joseph, said: "This is the first step in defending the Church and ensuring that Christians in Canada have the same rights to freely and peacefully worship as anyone else. TDF-funded lawyers expect to argue at Superior Court that both the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantee these rights."
Founded in 2021, The Democracy Fund (TDF) is a Canadian charity dedicated to constitutional rights, advancing education, and relieving poverty. TDF promotes constitutional rights through litigation and public education and supports an access to justice initiative for Canadians whose civil liberties have been infringed by government lockdowns and other public policy responses to the pandemic.