HALIFAX – Some Halifax restaurants are among the most recent to be fined $ 11,000 for violating lockdown rules.
The police won’t say who they are, but some say they should be named.
“We are making these publications so as not to embarrass individuals, but we are really making this information out to let people know that if they don’t follow these regulations as intended, they should expect enforcement,” said Halifax Regional Police spokesman Const. John MacLeod told CTV News Tuesday the troop had never named anyone to receive crime summary tickets.
The fines were imposed on Saturday and Sunday.
Owners were each given a crime summary ticket fined $ 11,622.50 under Section 71 (1) (a) of the Health Protection Act.
“Maybe they just made a stupid decision to get some dollars that we don’t support because I think way too many companies and individuals have sacrificed way too much,” said Atlantic Canada VP Atlantic Luc Erjavec.
“For me, this would be the exception rather than the rule. I’ve worked with a lot of restaurants over the past year and we have a really fantastic track record of compliance.”
“Overall, the industry is doing a fantastic job and we just can’t accept that individual restaurants break these rules because they endanger everyone else.”
The director of Dalhousies Agri-Food Analytics Lab says the restaurants, perhaps more than anyone, know the COVID-19 rules well.
“In other provinces, restaurants are exposed if they break the law,” Sylvain Charlebois told CTV News.
“Honestly, we’ve been in this pandemic for 15, 16 months now. Restaurant operators know the rules. There have been some confusing moments in the last 15, 16 months, but there’s nothing confusing about the lockdown we’re in One moment in Nova Scotia, “said Charlebois. “Restaurant operators have no excuse for not following the rules, and I would definitely like those names to be made public,” he said.
Halifax pub manager Brendan Doherty described the news as disappointing, noting that its operations are completely closed and not even offer take-away.
I’m just sitting here closed painting my patio waiting to reopen and it’s just sad to see people not following public health orders, “he said.
He hopes others are not tempted to follow suit.
“We’re close to the end. Remember where we were at that time last year,” he said. “We are all together as a team, a dream. We are close to summer and hope that we will have another great one.”