It’s not a roadblock, it’s a random audit

Don’t call them roadblocks, or checkpoints. Call them random audits.

After announcing Monday that police would soon begin enforcing a ban on non-essential travel between different health authorities, Premier John Horgan sought to downplay the inconvenience they would pose to most British Columbians.

“We’re not putting up checkpoints,” Horgan said. “We’re trying to discourage people from taking a holiday outside their local area for the next five weeks.”

Changes will be made this week to the Emergency Program Act to restrict people’s ability to move for non-essential reasons between health regions. That will allow police to pull everyone over at certain locations and at certain times to quiz them about their intended destination.

“Everybody who goes by will be asked where they're going and where they came from,” Horgan said.

“I know, at Christmas time when this happens, the vast majority of travellers are quite happy to say, ‘No, I didn’t have a drink,’ and ‘Yes, I'm going home.’”

“This is the type of situation we’re in,” Horgan said.

“It’s not heavy-handed mind.

“It’s random, and it will be done in a way that includes everyone in a particular place at a particular time. And there will be consequences if you are outside of your area on non-essential business.”

Horgan did not indicate what that consequence would be, in term of a fine amount, saying more details will be released later this week.

A reporter noted that hundreds of thousands of people travel everyday between Surrey and Vancouver, two cities which are in separate health authorities, and wondered how the ban would affect their commute.

Horgan responded: “Dr. Henry will be working with public safety to make sure that this is not overly complicated … We want to make sure that public safety representatives are not going to be heavy handed with this, and they have no intention, they don't want to do this.

“This is for those that are recklessly flaunting the rules,” Horgan said. “It’s not for regular folks who are going about their business.” in my