Pastor Philip James Hutchings was placed in solitary confinement for one week in October 2021 after he asked the court for an adjournment during a contempt hearing in which it was alleged that he breached a court order by holding a church service, which did not comply with masking and social distancing requirements. On his return to court, he was allegedly pressured by the judge to sign an undertaking as a condition of his release from jail.

Update: TDF’s lawyer in New Brunswick is appealing the undertaking as a final sentence in the New Brunswick Court of Appeal on the grounds that, among other things, there was a reasonable apprehension of judicial bias, the undertaking was made under duress, and that there was a denial of natural justice.