Halifax police issue ‘dozens’ of tickets for violation of state of emergency

The entrance to Halifax's Point Pleasant Park was blocked on March 23, 2020, a day after Nova Scotia declared a state of emergency due to COVID-19.

HALIFAX — Halifax Regional Police confirm to CTV News that they issued dozens of tickets on Saturday to individuals who were in violation of the provincial Emergency Management Act or the Health Protection Act.

“I am very disappointed to advise that dozens of tickets had to be issued by Halifax Regional Police on Saturday in relation to violations of either the provincial Emergency Management Act or the Health Protection Act,” said Staff Sergeant Scott MacDonald in an e-mail.

Tickets for violating the Emergency Measures Act are issued to ‘individuals disobeying the provincial-wide closure of all provincial and municipal parks and beaches’, and come with an initial fine of $697.50.

Tickets for violating the Health Protection Act are issued to ‘individuals and businesses who are failing to follow social distancing orders including not maintaining a social distance of two meters or six feet, and failing to keep social gatherings to five persons or less’ and come with an initial fine of $1,000 for individuals, and $7,500 for businesses.

The police will be issuing an official tally of tickets issued this weekend on Monday morning.

Also on Sunday, police sent out a notice of erroneous information that claims Halifax Regional Polie are stopping all vehicles travelling with two or more occupants.

"It has come to the attention of Regional Police that postings are appearing on Facebook and other social media platforms that are claiming that Halifax Regional Police are stopping all vehicles travelling with 2 or more occupants in conjunction with the enforcement of NS Covid 19 Health Protection orders," said ERC-Supervisor Douglas Brown in an e-mailed statement. "Please be advised that this is erroneous information and Police are not conducting such checks and are under no orders to do so."

Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil declared a state of emergency on March 22, closing all provincial parks and beaches, and authorizing police to issue tickets to enforce social distancing.

The Halifax Regional Municipality has closed all municipal parks, beaches, playgrounds, sports fields, courts and associated parking lots.

Many provincial and municipal trails are closed. Provincial and municipal trails that are not part of a park can be used for exercise purposes, but only if you can walk there, in accordance with the state of emergency order in Nova Scotia.