Breaking a measure under Ontario’s emergency orders could land you an $880 fine.
City by-law officers are in charge of laying those fines and spokesperson Doug Vincent says thankfully they haven’t had to do that yet.
“It’s caught on. I think people understand this is serious and we are just trying to ensure people get through this and out the other side safely,” Vincent said.
Some of the rules around parks and open spaces that could result in a fine include sitting on playground equipment.
“We’ve been persuading people who might want to sit on the playground equipment for whatever reason that it’s not a great choice and it’s a public safety issue,” Vincent added.
Since the start of the pandemic, by-law officers have patrolled over 3,000 times and spoken to hundreds of people.
Vincent adds by-law officers have also had to replace signs in area parks that were removed because “people wanted souvenirs.”
City by-law vehicles are also now covered in enforcement messaging, including a van that is covered in COVID-19 related information.
Sign on playground equipment at Thunder Bay park
