Millions in COVID-19 enforcement fines remain unpaid

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This article was published 20/03/2022 (1466 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Most COVID-19 enforcement fines issued over the past two years in Manitoba still haven’t been paid.

Now that the province has lifted all public-health restrictions that required proof-of-vaccination, mask-wearing and limited gatherings in public places, the enforcement of those emergency orders has also ended. More than $3.6 million fines were issued for alleged COVID-19 violations, but those millions haven’t made it into provincial coffers.

A total of $492,900 has been collected since April 2020, according to the province’s most recent tabulation, which is from the end of February. That’s only about 14 per cent of the total $3,624,187 in fines issued.

The government spent millions on enforcement of the COVID-19 public health orders and empowered more than three thousand police officers and provincial workers to enforce the rules, including a $2.5-million investment when enforcement began in November 2020. Much of the enforcement targeted repeat offenders, including restaurants, churches and other organizations that openly flouted the rules. Most of the total 2,619 tickets and 596 fines that were handed out were issued by police agencies other than the RCMP.

It’s unclear how many of those fine payments were simply ignored and are considered outstanding, versus how many have been successfully appealed.

Bob Fuglsang, owner of the Corona Hotel in Glenella, is one of the rural small business owners who intended to challenge his fine after an inspector ticketed him $1,296 in November 2020. Code-red public health orders in effect at the time banned gatherings and forced bars and restaurants to close. The inspector believed the hotel’s beverage room was open and people were playing pool inside, in violation of the orders, but Fuglsang always maintained that’s not what happened. He said the bar was closed to the public, and his six-year-old grandson was the only one playing with the pool balls while he had a family meeting in his office next to the beverage room.

Then-premier Brian Pallister publicly shamed the Corona Hotel during a live broadcast news conference, giving the impression there were a bunch of people in the bar drinking and playing pool in contravention of the orders. More than a year after he indicated his intention to contest the fine and was told he’d hear back from the Crown’s office, Fuglsang has heard nothing.

“No news is good news,” Fuglsang said when reached by phone Sunday. It’s now been more than a year since Fuglsang and his wife Bev, owners of the hotel for more than 30 years, asked for an apology from the province. They never received one, and they haven’t seen an influx of business now that restrictions are lifted, either.

“It’s gonna be a hard time getting it back to normal,” Fuglsang said, adding he doesn’t know if his business will be able to rebound to a pre-pandemic level. “All we can do is wait, I guess, and see what happens.”

Then-premier Pallister publicly named the business based on information from the liquor inspector, emphasizing his disappointment, saying he’s had a “beer or two in (the Corona Hotel) in my life, and it’s a nice hotel, but guys, don’t do things like that. This is disheartening,” Pallister said at the time. He later said he purposely named the hotel because he wanted all businesses to know “going forward, if you break the public-health rules, there’s a good chance you might get your name mentioned on TV.”

At this point, Fuglsang said, he doesn’t believe Pallister’s comments affected the business.

“I don’t think so. Everybody’s forgot it by now,” he said.

The provincial government has previously stated collection efforts for fines are ongoing.

Enforcement continued after the province announced its intention to lift restrictions. Vaccine requirements were lifted March 1 and the indoor mask mandate was lifted March 15. During the week of March 7 to March 13, two Manitobans — one in Winnipeg and one in the Southern Health region — were each ticketed $298 for failing to wear masks. There were 1,058 inspections conducted that week, and three other warnings were issued.

katie.may@winnipegfreepress.com