National Post (National Edition)
Ontario's iron-fisted lockdown assumes sweeping powers
Police may stop, question those outside homes
Citing rising COVID-19 case numbers, on Friday the Province of Ontario enacted one of the strictest lockdowns yet seen in the Western world, including empowering police to stop and question any person seen outside their home.
“Moving forward, police will have the authority to require any individual who is not in a place of residence to, first, provide their purpose for not being at home, and provide their home address,” said Ontario Solicitor General Sylvia Jones in a livestreamed Friday news conference. She added, “police will also have the authority to stop a vehicle to inquire about an individual's reason for leaving their residence.”
In a Q and A session following the news conference, Jones clarified that anybody who refused to answer police questions about why they were outside was “breaking the law” and could be fined $750 for a first offence.
The new orders effectively confine Ontario's 14 million people to their home, save for a handful of permitted activities. “It is imperative that everyone limit their trips outside of the home to permitted purposes only, such as going to the grocery store or pharmacy, medical appointments, outdoor exercise, or for work that cannot be done remotely,” said Jones.
It's also a departure from January, when Jones' office had specifically assured the public that police would not be stopping Ontarians simply for being outside. “On its own, being outside is not sufficient evidence of a failure to comply with the stayat-home order,” a spokesman had said at the time.
Although the new measures would not pass Charter of Rights muster under any conventional circumstances, they are made possible thanks to wide-reaching provisions contained in the Canadian Quarantine Act. The 2005 act specifically empowers warrantless arrests, and allows peace officers to detain anyone they “believe has refused to be isolated or refuses to comply with a measure.”
Accompanying the expansion of law enforcement powers was what Ontario Premier Doug Ford called the “strictest measures in all of North America.” This included a full shutdown of outdoor amenities, including golf courses, basketball courts and playgrounds. Under the prior provisions of the Reopening Ontario Act, anyone caught on a jungle gym until the lifting of the measure can face fines of $750, to an individual maximum of $100,000 and up to a year in jail.
While Ontario had previously allowed outdoor gatherings of up to five people, that has now been limited to “members of one's own household.”
Jones also announced the partial closure of Ontario's borders with the rest of Canada. Starting at midnight on Monday, roadblocks at the Manitoba and Quebec borders will now turn away any traveller who can't prove they are travelling for work, medical care or the exercise of Indigenous treaty rights. “Should an individual not have a valid reason to enter Ontario, they will be turned back,” said Jones.
Although this marks the most consequential intranational border closure since the arrival of COVID-19 to Canada, it is not without precedent.
The territory of Nunavut has imposed strict restrictions on the arrival of nonresidents during the pandemic. As well, the “Atlantic Bubble,” a travel-restricted area enacted by Canada's Atlantic provinces, was enforced in part by peace officers stationed on land crossings from Quebec.
The enforced stay-athome orders are indeed the broadest COVID-19 restrictions yet observed in the Western hemisphere, although they do echo the hard lockdowns observed by New Zealand in the first weeks of the pandemic, as well as ongoing restrictions in Italy, which has returned to strict lockdowns following a rise in cases and hospitalizations.