Mayor calls for COVID-19 fines to be jacked up

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This article was published 06/05/2021 (1673 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg’s mayor is urging the province to greatly increase the fines for violating public health orders.

As the city’s test positivity rate for COVID-19 edged beyond 10 per cent Thursday, Mayor Brian Bowman said steeper fines and more visible enforcement are needed to help ensure every rule is followed to combat the spread of the virus.

“I hope they’re considering significantly increasing the fines. I would start by looking at a minimum doubling, if not tripling, those fines. Make them significant and send that message for those that are choosing willingly, to just violate provincial public health orders (that) there’s going to be significant consequences,” said Bowman.

The mayor said he’d also like to see the province make its enforcement efforts more visible.

“The visibility, in particular, would go a long way towards discouraging violations of the provincial public health orders and also demonstrating respect for all of those law-abiding citizens who are doing their absolute best to comply,” said Bowman.

In an enforcement update Tuesday, the province said 112 warnings and 58 tickets were given out for alleged health order violations from April 26 to May 2. Those included fines of $1,296 each for various individual offences, $298 for failing to wear a mask in an indoor public place and $5,000 per business violation.

The recipients were accused of a variety of offences, including holding gatherings in private homes, failing to self-isolate after a COVID-19 exposure and participating in large outdoor rallies.

The Manitoba government rejected the mayor’s claims, noting more than $1.8 million in fines have been issued since April 2020.

“Contrary to assertions and speculations by the mayor of Winnipeg, Manitoba actually has the most significant per capita enforcement record of all Canadian provinces. Manitoba is outpacing most other provinces on COVID-19 enforcement efforts and has issued 1,294 tickets for public health violations since the beginning of the pandemic,” said a spokesperson for Manitoba Justice, in an emailed statement.

The spokesperson added that regular news releases detailing the number of tickets, make it clear the health orders must be followed. As an added deterrent, those who don’t pay the fines won’t be able to renew their driver’s licence until they do so, she said.

The Canadian Press reported that less than 10 per cent of the $1.7 million in fines the Manitoba government has issued to suspected rule-breakers had been collected as of April 28.

Joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga