City warns pandemic distancing tickets still possible

Sorry, Hamiltonians: permission to hug within your new pandemic bubble will not prevent a $500 physical-distancing ticket outside that social circle.

Ontario further loosened emergency COVID-19 restrictions Friday to allow for close contact — hugs and handshakes — between family and friends in a carefully chosen 10-person bubble.

You can also separately gather with anyone, while maintaining physical distance, in groups of up to 10 people. That’s a change from the early lockdown maximum of five.

The city has its own pandemic bylaw that targets too-large gatherings and physical-distancing fails.

Council is expecting to amend the bylaw to get rid of references to the evolving gathering maximums, said city emergency operations head Paul Johnson on Friday.

But city bylaw will hang on to the option of fining you $500 for ignoring two-metre rules outside of your bubble.

“There are still certain circumstances where this will be a useful tool for us,” Johnson said.

For example, a ticket could go to non-bubble buddies hanging out too close in the park, for example. (Yes, you still have to physically distance when gathering outside your bubble, even in small groups.)

You can also be fined as a store proprietor for not keeping customers safely apart in lineups.

The city will also update the bylaw to specifically ban people from visiting pandemic-closed city or conservation authority properties. Ignoring that rule will also cost you $500 — a more costly consequence than a typical $75 parks trespassing violation.

Still, Johnson acknowledged it is “pretty rare” for bylaw officers to rely on the local rules. Only 26 tickets in total have been handed out under the physical-distancing bylaw.

By comparison, the city has issued 170 tickets under Ontario’s pandemic emergency orders, which typically costs each scofflaw $880.

Matthew Van Dongen is a Hamiltonbased reporter covering transportation for The Spectator. Reach him via email: mvandongen@thespec.com