Cyril Winter, 70, was first arrested February 7 and then again two days later in front of the Morgentaler abortion center in Ottawa. He was charged respectively with five and three offenses under Bill 163, or Safe Access to Abortion Services Act.
Winter told LifeSiteNews he was shocked that he had been charged under the new law since the sign he was carrying near the abortion center was not about abortion but about Charter rights.
The law, which came into effect February 1, bans all pro-life witness within the 50 meters of Ontario’s eight abortion centers, which can be increased to 150 meters on request. Hospitals and pharmacies can also apply for “bubble zones” of up to 150 meters.
Punishment for a first conviction under the law is a fine of up to $5000 and/or a jail sentence of up to six months. These penalties double for second and subsequent offenses.
The bill was brought in by Liberal Attorney General Yasir Naqvi, who is MPP for Ottawa Center, the riding where the Morgentaler abortion center is located.
Winter has been witnessing at that location for 6 and a half years, typically with a sandwich board which has images of aborted babies.
But on February 7, he stood in front of the abortion center with a sandwich board that read: “Freedom of Expression and Religion. No Censorship,” he told LifeSiteNews.
The sign had been “pre-approved” by Ottawa police Sergeant Martin Groulx, and Groulx and another officer “even coached me, [they said] don’t stare at the clinic, look away, and don’t spend all your time there,” Winter said.
So when four police cars with eight policemen arrived, and, after two or three hours, arrested him, “I was shocked,” he said.
“While I was talking to the arresting sergeant, I said, ‘What about what Groulx said, he okayed the sign on Friday,’ and then he said ‘I just spoke to Sergeant Groulx and Groulx just spoke with the crown attorney, and the crown attorney says, ‘Charge him’,” Winter said.
Winter described what happened to him as “entrapment” by the police.
He was arrested again February 9, carrying a sign stating: “God save our Charter rights” and charged with three offenses under Bill 163.
On that occasion, “all I did was walk around the block,” Winter told theCatholic Register. “I didn’t say anything to anyone. There was no abortion talk. No praying outside the clinic. The clinic called the cops.”
Continue reading at LifeSiteNews.com
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