The province of Quebec is expected to announce on Wednesday that they will be implementing an 8-9pm curfew with strict new lockdown rules! Amazingly this announcement comes on the heels of a viral video which showed the Gatineau police aggressively arresting and fining a family of 6 for gathering at home for New Years Eve.
Restricting times and locations people can shop concentrates them, resulting in more virus transmission.
Quebec City police were the busiest when it came to the enforcement of health regulations during the holidays. On New Year’s Eve alone the force handed 52 tickets — 46 of them during protests staged around the National Assembly. Between Dec. 21 and Dec. 27, the force handed out 41 tickets, most of them for illegal gatherings.
Over the Christmas break, Quebec police have been busy ticketing families for gathering to celebrate Christmas together.
While Quebec continues to shatter its COVID-19 daily case records, police around the province are warning the public that they will be out in full force making sure people are abiding by the social distancing measures.
“There will be additional staff that will be deployed in the field in order to respond to calls,” said David Pelletier, a spokesperson for the Quebec City Police Service (SPVQ).
Authorities say officers who will see violations will have a “low tolerance” for people’s holiday gatherings, Pelletier added.
In the face of crowds of people flying south, even as COVID-19 cases surge, Quebec Premier François Legault is urging the federal government to explain how it will try to stem the tide.
And he warned Tuesday that he may also take more severe measures in what’s required upon travelers’ return home.
During a joint press conference with the three leaders of the province’s opposition parties, Legault said he was on the same wavelength as Ontario Premier Doug Ford — he, too, denounced the federal government’s slowness in intervening, since airports and borders are federal, not provincial.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was briefly tossed the current political football of language laws earlier this week.
And while his answer may not have been exactly what Quebec Premier François Legault wanted to hear—unlike what new Conservative leader Erin O’Toole has said—it suggested that Ottawa is considering giving French some extra legal protection within Quebec.
