More cops dispatched to Big White

Pandemic scofflaws at Big White face swifter crackdowns from police.

Additional RCMP patrols have been added at the resort so people violating public health orders related to COVID-19 can be ticketed.

Organizers of parties, such as the one linked to a cluster of cases that has so far infected 60 people, can be fined up to $2,300. Refusing to wear a face mask at an indoor public space, or engaging in abusive or belligerent behaviour, can draw a $230 fine.

“There is a unique situation occurring in the community of Big White,” Kelowna RCMP Supt. Kara Triance said in a Wednesday release. “The RCMP will be there to assist the community in containing the situation and maintaining public safety.”

There is no RCMP station at Big White, and officers are dispatched to the resort from the West Kelowna RCMP detachment.

Officers will now make the 68-kilometre drive from West Kelowna to Big White more frequently, and in greater numbers, police say.

“Due to concerns that have been brought to us by the community, we will be increasing our patrols and police presence in the area,” RCMP Insp. Kent Lowe said.

Earlier this week, Big White resort spokesman Michael Ballingall said managers did not have the legal authority to try to close down house parties being held in privately owned residences.

“We can only control the spaces we manage,” Ballingall told The Daily Courier, “so if something happens in a private residence that we may or may not be aware of, there’s really nothing that we can do about it.

“This is where the public has the perception that we can go knock on someone’s door and stop whatever is occurring, and we certainly can’t,” Ballingall said.

Events like big indoor parties that violate public health orders, he said, are “clearly in the domain of a bylaw officer or the police.”