Following a joint investigation by Saskatoon Police Service Patrol and the General Investigations Section, 11 attendees from this past weekend’s planned rally are being issued tickets for violating public health orders. The persons receiving tickets were key participants in the rally, but this level of enforcement may be expanded in the future as the risk associated to COVID-19 transmission increases.
Police say enforcement is not always visible and may occur after the fact. Issuing tickets for violations of the public health order can take time as police work to confirm identification and review evidence. The investigation is continuing, and more charges may be laid.
Police are also consulting with their enforcement partners in Health and Justice regarding options for those that repeatedly violate the public health orders. Anyone who is ordered to self-isolate and fails to do so may be subject to a Public Health detention order, and to the best of Saskatoon Police Service officials’ knowledge, no one that attended the event in Saskatoon was ordered to self-isolate.