14 tickets issued in 3 weeks for contravening BC’s rules gathering and events

It’s nearly been a month since the provincial government announced new fines for those who contravene the provincial health officer’s order on gatherings and events.

Today, the province announced that between Aug. 21 and Sept. 12, a span of just over three weeks, there were 14 violation tickets issued for violating these rules.

Eight were $2,000 fines to owners or organizers who didn’t follow the rules on capacity, sanitation, physical distancing or contact tracing.

The other six were $200 violation tickets issued to individuals who didn’t follow the direction of police or enforcement staff when these types of events or gatherings were broken up.

That's a total of $17,200 in fines since the government made the changes on Aug. 21.

"We're asking British Columbians to do the right thing and continue taking the health of your family, friends and neighbours seriously," said Michael Farnworth, BC’s minister of public safety who issued this order back on Aug. 21.

"We've put measures in place to protect people and deal with those who insist on breaking the rules. We all need to take personal responsibility and make choices that will keep our communities safe."

Rules and orders like this one are made possible by BC’s state of emergency, which was extended for a 14th time today and is likely to last for many more months.