“If people don’t want to follow the rules,” said Mayor Guy Desjardins, “we will use severe methods to make them obey.”
The mayor’s comment came at the beginning of the April 19 council session. The “severe methods” the mayor referred to during the Monday evening meeting are the fines that the bylaw enforcement department is starting to impose on individuals and businesses for infractions of the provincial public health safety orders and restrictions imposed in an effort to curb the third wave of COVID-19 and its variants.
Mayor Desjardins noted many complaints coming in to the city from people about tickets for infractions of the pandemic safety rules. One person, he said, phoned him at home, telling him that the ticket fine was “too severe and should be annulled.”
The mayor reminded residents that they have had repeated warnings through the municipal website and other sources about the pandemic guidelines and restrictions and the potential penalties for infractions. Desjardins said that anyone who wants to dispute the ticket they received under the public health orders should take the matter to court.
