VANCOUVER -- A woman who refused to wear a mask on transit late last year has been told she must pay multiple fines for COVID-19-related offences.
Metro Vancouver Transit Police posted the update to social media Tuesday, saying the woman "was found guilty and will have to pay all of her violation tickets." According to MVTP's police, she was fined $230 for failing to wear a face covering and $230 for abusive or belligerent behaviour.
The entire incident was caught on camera and shared to social media last December. It appears the woman filmed the incident herself and the video was posted to YouTube and later shared on Reddit.
The 11-minute video shows the transit officer interacting with the woman on the train. In it, the officer can be seen asking the woman to get off if she refuses to wear a mask.
The woman can be heard saying she has a medical exemption and that she needs to go to Richmond to pick up her car. Medical exemption cards were initially given by TransLink when the transit authority implemented its own mask requirement. But when the province introduced its own mask mandate in November, the use of those cards was suspended.
"Unfortunately I have to ask you to leave," the transit officer, identified by MVTP as Const. Peter Kwok, says in the video. "I don't want to argue with you."
Several minutes later, the woman is arrested.
Comments under the video commend the officer's actions, saying he appeared patient and "was doing his job."
"Transit police received an unprecedented amount of support for Const. Kwok when a video of him went viral," MVTP's post says.
By B.C. public health order, masks are currently required in most indoor public settings.
