Here's how many COVID-19-related tickets have been handed out in B.C.
More than a million dollars' worth in health-order and quarantine violation tickets have been handed out in B.C. since the summer after COVID-19 arrived in the province.
Fines for breaking COVID-19 public health orders were first introduced in B.C. in August 2020. The amounts of the tickets vary, depending on the offence. For example, $230 or $575 fines can be given to individuals who don't comply with a health order. However, event organizers and business owners can be fined $2,300.
Over a span of nearly 17 months – between Aug. 21, 2020 and Jan. 14, 2022 – police and other enforcement officers issued $1,630,700 in COVID fines. More than 60 per cent of the dollar value of those fines was given to business owners and event organizers who broke health orders on gatherings and events.
In total, there were 2,362 tickets handed out and of those, 1,739 were $230 ones gives to individuals.
About seven months after the fines were first introduced, some became more expensive. For example, instead of $230, tickets for those who promoted or attended a non-compliant event cost $575. The province said 108 of those were issued.
In addition to fines for breaking B.C.-specific health orders, another 238 violation tickets were given to people who broke the federal government's Quarantine Act. The province didn't break down the cost of those individual tickets, but said the total was just over $636,500.
The province didn't say how many of these tickets have actually been paid. However, new legislation that came into effect last year means those who don't pay their fine won't only face collections, but could be refused a new or renewed driver's licence. Section 26.1 of the Motor Vehicle Act was updated to say ICBC may refuse a licence to anyone who is "indebted to the government" because they didn't pay a fine under "the COVID-19 Related Measure Act."
"That small minority of persons who have been fined for violating the rules in place to protect us all are going to be held accountable for the debt they owe," Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth said last May, when that new legislation was announced.
Several COVID-19 orders remain in place in B.C. and this week, many were extended until at least mid-February.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Video shows suspect setting Toronto-area barbershop on fire
Video of a suspect lighting a Richmond Hill barbershop on fire earlier this week has been released by police.
'I have the will to live': N.B. woman needs double lung transplant
A New Brunswick woman suffering from sarcoidosis, a disease that limits your lung capacity, is in need of a double lung transplant.
The kids from 'Mrs. Doubtfire are all SUPER grown up now, and we're not OK
The adorable trio of child actors from the 1993 classic comedy 'Mrs. Doubtfire,' which starred the late and great Robin Williams, are all grown up and looking back on their seminal time together.
Police officer hit by driver of fleeing vehicle in Toronto
York Regional Police say they are continuing to search for a suspect in an auto theft investigation who was captured on video running over a police officer in Toronto last month.
Boeing is on the verge of launching astronauts aboard new capsule, the newest entry to space travel
It’s the first flight of Boeing’s Starliner capsule with a crew on board, a pair of NASA pilots who will check out the spacecraft during the test drive and a weeklong stay at the space station.
Britney Spears 'home and safe' after paramedics responded to an incident at the Chateau Marmont, source tells CNN
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.
Suter scores late goal, clinches series for Canucks
Pius Suter scored with 1:39 left and the Vancouver Canucks advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs with a 1-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Friday night in Game 6.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
TD worst-case scenario more likely after drug money laundering allegations: analyst
TD Bank Group could be hit with more severe penalties than previously expected, says a banking analyst after a report that the investigation it faces in the U.S. is tied to laundering illicit fentanyl profits.