State of Emergency extended by Ontario

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The Government of Ontario has extended the Declaration of Emergency and associated emergency measures, including the closure of non-essential workplaces and restrictions on social gatherings. In addition, Ontario is issuing a new emergency order under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act [EMCPA] to close all outdoor recreational amenities, such as sports fields and playgrounds, effective immediately. These actions are based on the advice of the Chief Medical Officer of Health.

Public schools will remain closed to teachers until at least Friday, May 1, and to students until Monday, May 4. As these dates come closer, this decision will be re-evaluated based on public health advice. The closure may be extended, if necessary, to protect the health and safety of students, families and staff. Private schools, licensed child care centres and EarlyON programs will also remain closed until April 13, according to the Declaration of Emergency, which only allows closures to be extended for one 14-day period at a time. As reported elsewhere in this issue, special daycare services will remain open for children of front-line workers, one of these is located in Kemptville.

One of the more controversial elements of the new measures announced by the government requires that people who are being charged with an offence under the EMCPA will be required to identify themselves, if asked by a provincial offences officer, which includes police officers, First Nations constables, special constables and municipal by-law enforcement officers.

“It is essential that measures are in place to allow provincial offences officers to lawfully require an individual to disclose their correct name, date of birth and address in order to protect our communities,” said Sylvia Jones, Solicitor General. “By providing provincial offences officers with this temporary power to obtain identifying information under the EMCPA, they will be able to enforce emergency orders during these extraordinary times.”

Emergency orders currently in place to address the COVID-19 outbreak include the closure of non-essential businesses, prohibiting organized public events and social gatherings of more than five people and stopping price gouging on necessary goods such as disinfectant products. Failing to comply with any of these emergency orders is an offence under the EMCPA and so is the failure to identify oneself accurately.

The penalties for such failure are great, and designed to bring home to people the seriousness of their infraction.

As of last Friday, Mayor Jim Watson of Ottawa was reporting that residents of that city were still advertising garage sales for last weekend, or were holding bbq’s for their friends. The fines to be levied for that kind of irresponsible behaviour are commensurate with the offense. Failing to correctly identify oneself carries a fine of $750 for failure to comply with an order made under the EMCPA, or $1,000 for obstructing any person in exercising a power if a provincial offences officer issues a ticket. In addition, failure to comply with an emergency order could carry punishments of up to one-year imprisonment, or a fine of up to $100,000 for an individual, $500,000 for a director of a corporation, or $10,000,000 for a corporation itself, if a provincial offences officer charges the individual by issuing a summons.

These penalties apply in addition to the penalties for breaching other emergency orders.

“It is the responsibility of all Ontarians to do their part and respect the emergency orders in place. We are supporting provincial offences officer in their critical work to enforce that responsibility and ensure the safety and wellbeing of Ontarians,” added Solicitor General Jones.

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