St. Brigid's owner repairing church after TUPOC eviction, claims some items missing

St. Brigid's Church in Ottawa. Jan. 7, 2023. (Brad Quinn/CTV News Ottawa)

The owner of St. Brigid’s Church in Lowertown, which was the main stage of a series of events centered around a group calling itself “The United People of Canada” (TUPOC) last summer, says the interior of the church needs some repairs and several items are missing. TUPOC is denying the allegation. 

Speaking on Newstalk 580 CFRA’s “CFRA Live with Andrew Pinsent” on Saturday, Patrick McDonald said items were moved around or damaged inside the church while TUPOC was there.

“Because of the previous occupants, a lot of work had to be redone to re-fix the place,” he said. “We are working through areas like the Kildare Room and then upstairs, which would be the main church area itself. It’ll be another couple of months, probably, before we have it up and functioning.”

The deconsecrated Ottawa church was for sale in 2022, and conditionally sold to TUPOC in June. Community members were concerned about the group’s ties to the Freedom Convoy, which had occupied downtown Ottawa for three weeks just a few months prior. Over the course of the next several weeks, a number of odd scenes played out at the church, including “guards” posted at the doors with squirt guns and the leader of TUPOC, William Komer, appearing out front in a paper crown, a cape, and rubber gloves, holding a makeshift scepter. The group insisted it was peaceful, but also threatened to arrest anyone it deemed trespassers and claimed to have a private prosecution team on hand.

The group was evicted in September after some time in court.

McDonald told CFRA the group dismantled the lighting system in the chapel and created makeshift sleeping areas in several parts of the building. He also says several things have gone missing.

“Where and who actually took that is a difficult one to know,” he said. “It was tables and chairs, glasses, my sound system, all of that has been removed by some of the characters that were there.”

Speaking to CTV News Ottawa by phone, Komer said no items were taken under his watch.

“What does he mean by ‘characters that were there’?” he said. “We didn’t take any sound system, that’s for sure. I’m not aware of any tables or chairs that went missing.”

He claimed the group had permission, under its agreement when they moved in, to remove or sell items inside the church, though he insisted that the items mentioned by McDonald were not removed or sold.

TUPOC’s lawyer, Saron Gebresellassi, told CTV News Ottawa that they have received no correspondence from McDonald inquiring about the missing items.

IRISH PUB REOPENS

One part of the church, the Irish pub St. Brigid’s Well, has reopened. McDonald said getting that open again was an important step.

“It was closed at the beginning of COVID, like other places, so we’d had it closed since then. To bring it back, there was really a groundswell of people asking for it to be reopened,” he said. “I think it was a great watering hole for people in the community and from around the area who are of Irish background. I think it’s good that we have it reopened.”

McDonald says he’s been speaking with the Irish ambassador to Canada, Eamonn McKee, and the area councillor, Stéphanie Plante, about the future of the church. The previous councillor, Mathieu Fleury, had created a “leaders table” to discuss how the property could best be utilized. McDonald said his intent is to make the church into an Irish cultural centre once repairs are complete.

GROUP SEEKING TO OVERTURN EVICTION

The TUPOC group is appealing its eviction. The group says it wants a judge to overturn the decision to remove them from the premises but, so far, no court date has been set.

Komer says he hopes the appeal will be heard by the summer and he fully intends to move back into the church and resume TUPOC’s activities, should the appeal succeed.

The group said on social media on Tuesday it paid its court fees in Ottawa and provided 17 “new evidence packages” to be reviewed by a private prosecution service.

“We’ll have to see where that goes over the next couple of months,” McDonald said. “It’s been stressful and very expensive going through the courts.”

McDonald also said he has yet to receive the money the court ordered TUPOC to pay after their eviction in September.

“I’m not sure whether this is part of the policy or program not to pay and just create more havoc as they have been doing up to now,” he said.

Komer says the cost award has been stayed while the group appeals its eviction. He is also seeking compensation for the group’s inability to use the site since the eviction notice, but says he remains open to discussion with the property owners.

“If the ownership group wants to talk, we’re open to that,” he said. “We hope they do the right thing and apologize, do what we agreed to, and pay for the harms they caused.”