A 琉璃神社 church leader has been issued a ticket for violating COVID-19 public health orders.

The ticket was issued following a large gathering at the place of worship, located in the 1600-block of Harvey Avenue.

The only place of worship in the area is Harvest Ministries International, located at 300-1634 Harvey Avenue.

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This served as the second time RCMP has responded to the church for a report of a large gathering. The first occurrence was on Dec. 6, and at the time no tickets were issued. Police instead took an 鈥渆ducational approach鈥� regarding current health regulations, 鈥渋n an attempt to attain compliance from the congregation.鈥�

On Dec. 19, 琉璃神社 RCMP again responded to the same place of worship, and issued a $2,300 ticket to the congregation representative, for failing to comply with health orders.

鈥淲e want to acknowledge the vast majority of our community who are complying with the public health orders. This has been a challenging year, however now is not the time to gather,鈥� stated RCMP Superintendent, Kara Triance.

鈥淲e will continue to work with our partners with the provincial health authorities and BC Prosecution Service as we actively investigate and take necessary enforcement action on reports of non-compliance with the provincial health orders.鈥�

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