In ongoing enforcement of COVID restrictions to limit the spread of COVID-19, Manitoba has issued a total of 130 warnings and 102 tickets for the week of May 17 to 23 including:
• 96 $1,296 tickets to individuals for various offences; and
• six $298 tickets to individuals for failure to wear a mask in indoor public places.
Eighty-eight of the 96 $1,296 tickets issued were in relation to gatherings in private residences or outdoors, three for failure to self-isolate, two for unnecessary northern travel and three to sole proprietorships.
Manitoba Justice officials continue to follow-up and investigate all large gathering and rallies they are made aware of and advise an additional 22 $1,296 tickets were issued in relation to rallies in Winnipeg.
Officials say the choice to defy public health orders is a serious offence and violators will be held to account.
As weather continues to warm up and Manitobans enjoy the outdoors, the public is advised that conservation officers will enforce public health and state of emergency orders within provincial parks, and park patrols, attendants, interpreters and beach safety services will provide education and monitor compliance.
Fine amounts for violating public health orders have been set at $298 for not wearing a mask in indoor public places, $1,296 for tickets issued to individuals for various offences, including sole proprietorships and partnerships, and $5,000 for tickets issued to corporations.
Unpaid fines, repeat offenders
The Manitoba government has made amendments to the Preset Fines and Offence Descriptions Regulation and the Provincial Offences General Regulation under The Provincial Offences Act to strengthen provincial public health order enforcement for repeat offenders including increased fines for individuals and doubled default conviction amount.
Unpaid fines for tickets for Public Health Act offences proceed through the Provincial Offences Court. If the ticket is not responded to during the response period indicated on the ticket, the individual would be default convicted and a $100 default conviction penalty would be applied. In such cases, the individual would also be prohibited from renewing a driver’s license or vehicle registration until the amount is paid. Unpaid amounts are also sent to a collections agency for further collection action. Information related to unpaid fines for tickets is available on Manitoba Justice’s website at www.gov.mb.ca/justice/tickets/index.html.
Almost 3,300 personnel across various agencies are empowered to enforce public health orders to protect Manitobans. This includes RCMP, law enforcement agencies, provincial employees and municipal partners, such as the City of Winnipeg.
Since enforcement efforts began in April 2020, a total of 4,358 warnings and 1,526 tickets have been issued, resulting in over $2.1 million in fines to businesses and individuals.
Additional data related to COVID-19, including data on enforcement, vaccines, outbreaks as well as some downloadable and historic data, can be found at https://geoportal.gov.mb.ca/.
Current orders under the Public Health Act are available at: https://manitoba.ca/asset_library/en/proactive/20212022/orders-soe-05252021.pdf.
Current public health orders are to stay home. Stick to the fundamentals of physical distancing, hand washing and wearing a mask. For more information on COVID-19 in Manitoba, visit www.manitoba.ca/COVID19.
For information about activities designed to make staying home a little easier, visit Safe at Home Manitoba at www.safeathomemb.ca/.
