Quebec will hand out fines to those who refuse to wear masks

Quebec police will begin handing out fines to anyone who isn't wearing a mask when required under public health regulations, Premier Franois Legaultsays.

The province also moved to ban karaoke in bars after one event at aQuebec City bar led to an outbreak of more than 80 cases.

The new fineswill apply across the province, but Legault said authorities will target regions classified as "yellow" under the government's new colour-coded COVID-19 alert system.

"There's a trend we do not like here," Legault said Thursday. "We cannot accept that a few irresponsible individuals put at risk the entire population of Quebec."

The new enforcement measures go into effect Saturday. People will be fined if they do not wear a mask in indoor public spaces where distancing is not possible.

While business owners already faced fines if they did not properly enforce the government's mask regulations, individuals faced no consequences if they refused to wear oneuntil now.

In a statement, theCanadian Federation of Independent Business said it welcomes the new fines, as it means the onus is no longer entirely on business owners.

Legaultsaid the government is implementing these stricter penalties because of a recent spike in cases.

For several days in a row, the province has seena seven-day moving average above20 cases per million, a threshold the government has said it does not want to see crossed.

A region's alert level is based upon three criteria: the epidemiological situation, the rate of transmission and the capacity of the region's health-care system.

There are currently four regions in the yellow tier: Quebec City, the Eastern Townships, the Outaouais and Laval. The province's other regions, including Montreal, are in the lowest tier.

Montreal's public health director, Dr. Mylne Drouin, said Wednesday that her city could soon move from "green" to "yellow," as well, given the increase in cases in recent weeks.

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Fines are expected to range between $400 and $6,000, but the exact amount willbe confirmed by Public Security MInisterGenevive Guilbaultin the coming days.

Health MinisterChristianDubsaid the government is alsoconsideringimposing fines for failing to follow other public health recommendations, such as physical distancing.

"We're going to be looking at what we can do," saidDub. "It's a lot more difficult to intervene in a private evening than it is to intervene for example in a bar or in a restaurant."

Social gatherings a concern

Transmissionatgatherings with family and friendsremains a major concern among public health experts.

"What we've been seeing in recent weeks is that the source of a lot of these cases are coming from small parties or people that are not respecting the basic guidelines," Dr. Ccile Tremblay, a microbiologist and infectious disease specialist at the CHUM, saidin an interview.

She said the new regulation makes sense as it might give those who aren't currently respecting public health guidelines an extra push to do so.

"We have to target the people who aren't respecting the guidelines because it puts those who are respecting them at risk," she said.

In an interview with Radio-Canada,MontrealPolice Brotherhood presidentYves Francoeursaid officers will use their judgment to determine whether someone is purposely disregarding the regulations on masks, or whether they simply forgot to wear one.

"Issuing fines of hundreds of dollars is not pleasant, but unfortunatelyI think we've gotten to the point where we need to make irresponsible people understand that their actions are dangerous to the rest of society," saidFrancoeur.

Legault said Thursday that he does not expect another shutdown in the province,even if case numbers get worse.

"We're not going towards confinement like what we saw in the spring. Let's be very clear on that,"he said.

Regions at a yellow alert level, however, may have some restrictions on the kinds of extracurricular activities allowed when they are set to resume on Sept. 14.

He said health authorities will also continue to keep an eye on bars, putting in place restrictions beyond the ban on karaoke, but that the majority of them have been following guidelines.

More testing sites coming

Quebec's public health director Dr. Horacio Arruda said the measures to contain the spread of the virus in schools appear to be working. He said there have been 118 cases recorded across the province, but no major outbreaks.

"We have not actually demonstrated there is a big transmission in schools," he said.

"We think that the measures we put in place are workingactually."

Since school began late last month,there has also been an increase in the demand for testing,leading to long lines at some centres.

Dubsaid the government will be opening testing sites shortly,and willlookfor ways to make it quicker for people to obtain their results electronically.

He also said the province is looking at restructuring the testing system in a way that would allow more people to make appointments ahead of time, instead of relying so heavily on walk-insites.

Quebecers not following COVID-19 mask rules will be fined: Legault

4 years ago

Duration 1:08

Quebec Premier Franois Legault says 'irresponsible' citizens will face fines if they refuse to wear masks where it's mandatory.