The City of Kingston, Ont., along with the Kingston Police and the local health unit, are warning residents they could face various fines for hosting or attending gatherings over the St. Patrick’s Day week amid ongoing COVID-19 restrictions.
Dr. Kieran Moore, medical officer of health for the region, instituted a new public health order Thursday limiting gatherings to five people inside and outside between March 13 to March 21. He said this was done keeping in mind the street parties that took place over that week last year, before the region went into lockdown in response to the global pandemic.
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“We’re well aware of the history of St. Patrick’s Day in Kingston and that it is a date and often a week of celebration. And absolutely, last year before we went into lockdown, there was significant social activity associated with St. Patrick’s Day, and it did put our community at risk,” Moore said.
His new Section 22 order would see fines of $5,000 a day applicable for any individual hosting or attending a gathering of more than five people, while any businesses hosting a large gathering could be penalized at up to $25,000 a day.
“By putting this in place, we don’t want to attract people to Kingston and then have street parties and or a lot of social activity during this week,” he said.
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The city of Kingston is also reminding residents that Kingston police and city bylaw officers will be able to hand out nuisance party bylaw, noise bylaw or liquor licence act infractions, which could come with court summons and/or monetary fines.
Finally, both police and bylaw officers can also hand out Reopening Ontario Act fines for people hosting or attending parties that are above the province’s gathering limits — 25 people outdoors and 10 indoors.
Police and bylaw will also levy additional obstruction fines for those who refuse to disperse.
All of these fines, depending on an individual’s participation in the gathering, can range from $880 to $10,000 for the first offence.
“We’re asking residents to act responsibly to keep themselves and the community safe this St. Patrick’s Day. Common infractions could result in a ticket or fine but attending gatherings could also spread COVID-19 and put others at risk,” says Kyle Compeau, manager of licensing and enforcement with the City of Kingston.
Neither the city or Kingston police have made it clear whether more police and bylaw officers will be patrolling the university district over the St. Patrick’s Day weekend, but said that if a complaint is received over that week, officers will be dispatched to investigate.
Kingston police chief Antje McNeely said that city officials understand that most city residents follow COVID-19 guidelines. She emphasized that it’s always been Kingston police’s goal to educate first and use enforcement as “a last resort.” But now, with variants posing a threat, city officials are trying to be preempt a spike in cases by keeping gatherings to a minimum, she said.
“We are now one year into the pandemic, but it is paramount that we continue taking a proactive and consistent enforcement approach with the goal of keeping COVID-19 infection rates low throughout our community,” McNeely said.
St. Patrick’s Day lands on Wednesday, March 17 this year.
