As Brampton considers punishment for ignoring physical distancing, police urge residents to report businesses flouting rules

While the province is stopping short of a full lockdown, Premier Doug Ford has mandated the closure of all non-essential businesses across the province, and both the City of Brampton and City of Mississauga have taken numerous measures to stop the spread of COVID-19, including the most recent step of closing all city parks and playgrounds. But it appears some are still not getting the message. 

Brampton resident Manjit Sehmbhi is one of the many residents in favour of enforcement to catch and fine those putting others at risk through ignoring physical distancing rules and spreading the highly contagious COVID-19 virus. He’s frustrated that people don’t understand the risk of not complying with the rules of physical distancing. 

“Sometimes deterrence is not the solution. When you see the situation is really serious, sometimes you have to enforce things,” he told The Pointer.

Manjit Sehmbhi (left) is one of many Brampton residents in favour of further enforcement meaures to ensure people follow physical distancing rules.

Sehmbhi points out the change he’s seen since the province called for the closure of all non-essential businesses. Surprisingly, after the rules came into force earlier this week, it appeared to put more cars on the road and people walking the streets. Sehmbhi felt it erased the sense of the province being in the midst of a global emergency. He said he felt more people were compliant in staying home before the government released a list of essential services. 

“When people were not sure of how it's going to be for the emergency, what's going to be essential and what's not going to be essential, there was hardly any traffic on the roads,” Sehmbhi said.

There has also been complaints of businesses in the city not complying with the provincial order and keeping their doors open, despite not being included on the provinces list of essential services. In response, Peel Police issued a news release urging residents to call the service’s non-emergency line to report these businesses. 

“As we continue to combat this pandemic, we are working with the Public Health office and other partners to reduce the spread of COVID-19. This new normal requires us to be adaptable to find the best outcome, which includes adhering to the advice of health experts”, Chief Nishan Duraiappah said in the press release.

According to Peel police, they've since received nine calls to the line about non-compliant businesses, and while no charges have been laid, all of them have since closed their doors. 

On Saturday, people lined up in short proximity to one another to enter a Best Buy store in Brampton

Mayor Patrick Brown wants the city to have more power in enforcing fines for people who fail to comply with the rules of physical distancing.

Wednesday evening marked the second telephone town hall dedicated to discussing issues around the spread of the novel coronavirus. Like most of these town halls, this one included a number of questions for callers to vote on. One of these questions asked the approximately 15,000 callers if they would support city by-law officers enforcing fines for people who fail to comply with the rules of social distancing. An overwhelming 77 percent of callers answered yes. “People shouldn't be reckless and so we want to know, do we have the community buy in if we're going to consider fines for people that do not practice physical distancing,” Brown said during the call.

On March 16, the province enacted the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act (EMCPA). Under this act, Peel Regional Police are authorized to lay three possible charges during the spread of COVID-19:

·  Failure to comply with an order made during a declared emergency ($750 fine)

·  Obstruct any person exercising a power in accordance with an order made during a declared emergency ($1,000 fine)

·  Obstruct any person performing a duty in accordance with an order made during a declared emergency ($1,000 fine)

Currently, city by-law officers are not allowed to charge anyone under the EMCPA. But according to a report presented by staff, the city has the ability to step up their role using powers mandated in the Municipal Act and the EMCPA. The former act gives power to the municipality if the legislation they propose covers assets or properties under the city’s control i.e. culture, parks, recreation and heritage spaces, and the latter act if the head of that municipality believes the measure is necessary during the emergency. Before any legislation like this can be accepted, provincial approval is required. 

A passerby captured an image of the crowded parking lot at Heart Lake in Brampton on Sunday

The City is waiting for the Province’s direction on what powers may be available to enforcement officers and the level of fines or penalties that could be imposed. Based on that direction, staff will bring a report to council at the earliest opportunity.  

If legislation is approved, according to the report, city by-law officers will be able to present court summons to offenders. A summon is a legal document that asks the person charged to appear in court.

By-law enforcement officers can currently report any behaviour observed that breaks the rules of non-compliance.

“Since last week, the city’s enforcement division visited more than 250 business establishments as part of its proactive investigations for non-compliance, of which one business was found to be in violation,” the city told The Pointer via email. “Officers advised them of the rules and the location was brought into compliance immediately.”

Brampton has 28 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus as of March 26, a number that has consistently increased since Peel’s first case of the infection was confirmed earlier this month.

If the city does move forward with any type of enforcement measures, it will inevitably raise questions about the legality of such action. Vincent Chiao, an associate law professor at the University of Toronto, told The Pointer he foresees a number of legal challenges resulting from any attempted enforcement. 

“You've got rules that are just too vague to enforce in any kind of reasonable way,” he said. When the cases are presented in a courtroom, Chiao asked what the quality of evidence would be in a situation like this. “Was it just a police officer who said they saw you at the dog park?  How can they prove that you knew that you weren't supposed to be there? It’s going to be really, really hard.”

While Chiao understands the rhetorical value of the charges, which may discourage people from going out and encourage them to follow the rules of physical distancing, he believes there’s a better way to get the word out. 

“I think there's some value in having the law or a public official make a statement saying these are rules, because that can crystallize a social norm.”

This is where things get tricky. Canadian officials have asked time and time again for people to respect the rules of physical distancing. “Go home and stay home. This is what we all need to be doing, and we're going to make sure this happens, whether by educating people more on the risks, or by enforcing the rules, if that's needed," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said during a March 23 address. 

While charging an individual for not following the rules seems like a plausible cause for many during this time, Chiao doesn't believe the charge will stand up down the road. “I can’t say with certainty…[but] I would suspect that even if they did charge a bunch of people or something, those charges could drop. I don't think anybody would have the appetite to spend time.”

Another question raised during the telephone town hall asked residents if they would like to know where exposure of COVID-19 took place in the city, even if it came at the expense of privacy. A total of 87 percent of the callers voted in favour of knowing this information. Currently, Peel Public Health provides information broken down by the number of cases per municipality, but nothing further. 

If this measure was to be approved, it would create a number of privacy issues. Chiao said revealing this information can also come with a lot of stigma, and concerns about how this data would be tracked, shared and stored after the issue of COVID-19 is done and over with.

Along with Peel Police, Peel’s Public Health inspectors also have special provisions during this time under the Health Protection and Promotion Act (HPPA). One of the many actions they can take under this act is to order a premise to shut down during the spread of a communicable disease like COVID-19. The Pointer reached out to Peel Public Health to learn if they had invoked such powers, but did not hear back in time for publication.

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