GET SERIOUS, MINISTERS SAY
Cops to check bars, tracers ignored
QUEBEC Bars and restaurants across the province should expect to receive a visit from the police this weekend.
Officers across the province are dropping in on more than 1,000 eating and drinking establishments as early as Friday evening to ensure COVID-19 health measures are being followed. The drop-ins will take place in all Quebec regions but will be concentrated in regions that are yellow, or in a state of early warning under the province's alert system.
Public Security Minister Geneviève Guilbault announced the operation on Friday alongside the heads of the Sureté du Quebec, the SPVM and the SPVQ. Officials have assigned a militaristic acronym to the weekend check-ins: operation OSCAR, a French acronym that translates to “systematic operation against risky behaviour.”
Guilbault called it a “vast police operation.” It will target all establishments with alcohol permits.
“We judge that there is a pertinence, a need to do this type of blitz ... this weekend because there are still some concerning situations happening in some licensed establishments,” she said
She said she had seen images circulating online showing overflowing dance floors and patrons gathering too close together.
“Let's not hide it. Alcohol consumption can sometimes bring some loosening and, well, we have a tendency to be more disposed to partying when we drink alcohol,” Guilbault said.
But the responsibility to ensure that patrons are respecting the health rules rests with the owners and operators of an establishment. Bars and restaurants are currently subject to a slew of public health rules. Patrons must drink seated at a distance and wear masks when they stand up. Dancing is prohibited, as is karaoke. Capacity is reduced and patrons need to give their contact information upon arrival to facilitate contact tracing. And on Thursday, Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé mandated that all establishments with alcohol permits stop serving alcohol at midnight.
Officers will be verifying that all those rules are being followed.
“If activities happening in an establishment represent a risk to public health, officers can notify the public health department, who can take the necessary measures,” a ministry press release states. “Furthermore, if officers note infractions, they can issue tickets.”
The minister specified that those who break the rules can face fines between $400 and $1,000. Fines could climb to $6,000 for a second offence.
Montreal police chief Sylvain Caron said 40 police officers would perform checks at about 250 establishments in Montreal this weekend.
Officers are expected to issue more warnings than tickets and they will not be allowed to immediately shut down bars or restaurants that are in violation of health protocols. Caron said they will be able to request an immediate meeting, within 24 hours, with the Régie des alcools, des courses et des jeux, which can decide to shut down an establishment.
Guilbault, meanwhile, announced no new measures to prevent people from gathering in private. Such gatherings are allowed if they involve 10 people or fewer from a maximum of three households — provided those present keep their distance from one another. Health officials, and the premier, have expressed concern over the number of private gatherings at which the virus is spreading and the number of parties happening in violation of the health measures.
Officers cannot enter a home without a warrant. Guilbault said the right to privacy protects Quebecers from invasive policing, but she said officers can intervene to stop private gatherings and said the government was working on making it easier for officers to issue tickets more efficiently in such cases — giving them powers to issue fines like they do for traffic violations, for example.
“I'm not preparing a document or a strategy so that our officers can enter into a home without a warrant today or tomorrow,” she said. “That's not our idea, that's not our intention, that's not our wish. ... But we still have to explore and think about a lot of things and possibilities without the intention of applying them right away.”
Quebec's public health director, Dr. Horacio Arruda, said on Thursday that public health officials were concerned about private parties spreading the virus and said officials were evaluating how to crack down on such gatherings, but were running into some roadblocks.
“The thing is what is the right timing to do it? If we go too fast, people can react in a bad way, if we are too slow, that's too late,” he said. “So, that's exactly what we are evaluating.”
Eight regions, including Montreal, Laval and Montérégie, which includes the South Shore, are in a state of early warning.