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A: The Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police confirmed officers will not be stopping people only to ask about the stay-at-home orders. “Individuals cannot be compelled to explain why they are out of their residence,” spokesperson Joe Couto said. “When people understand that our officers are not going to be looking for people who happen to be out like me walking my dog, I think they will then feel a lot better. Simply getting into their car and going to the grocery store wondering if they’re going to see the lights in their back windows is not going to happen.”
Q: What will police not be looking for?
A: Couto said police will not be setting up checkpoints to check for COVID-related violations. “One of the primary reasons is we have a lot to do,” Couto said. “Beyond enforcing this, we still have to prevent crime, we still have to address crime when it does happen. Our officers are pretty busy — we’re not looking for more business.”
Q: What will police be targeting?
A: Couto said police will target larger social gatherings. “We’ll have a more intentional effort to find those,” he said. “What I’m talking about is people who gather, for instance, in a parking lot and there’s suddenly 20 people standing around the car, our police officers are going to go and they’re going to simply say, ‘Why are we gathering here?”’
Q: What are the penalties?
A: Couto said the new rules allow officer discretion. They might simply tell a gathering of seven or 10 people to break it up and go home.
Fines can be issued for non-compliance. The Provincial Offences Act has been updated to include new offences with set fines:
- Fail to comply with an order made during a declared emergency: $750
- Obstruction of Person exercising a power in accordance with an emergency order: $1,000
- Obstruction of Person performing a duty in accordance with an emergency order: $1,000
- Individual who is a director or officer of a corporation: Up to $500,000
- Corporations: Up to $10,000,000
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