Kaycee Madu (front) Alberta's justice minister and solicitor general

By Troy Gillard

COVID-19 restrictions

Alberta granting more peace officers power to enforce COVID-19 rules

Nov 27, 2020 | 4:19 PM

Hundreds of additional peace officers are now able to enforce Alberta’s newly enhanced COVID-19 rules.

Earlier this week, the provincial government re-declared a state of public health emergency and implemented new restrictions, including a total ban on indoor social gatherings.

Justice Minister Kaycee Madu explained on Friday how the province will go about enforcing these rules.

He said the number of peace officers in the province who can sanction fines will be temporarily extended to about 700.

“Depending on the nature of the infraction, fines could be as low as $1,000 per ticketed offience, or in extreme cases as high as $100,000 through the court system,” said Madu, who noted that private social gatherings are the largest driver of COVID-19 spread in the province.

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He stressed that people need to be responsible for their own actions by “treating the pandemic as serious, and so to will be the consequences for not following the rules.”

Madu said, “to those who refuse to accept the reality of the situation, I understand that this is an extraordinary encroachment on your personal liberty. But you must accept these temporary measures.”

Dr. Deena Hinshaw encouraged all Albertans to work with law enforcement members and AHS health inspectors who are working to enforce the rules in place. She said AHS inspectors are continuing to face criticism and verbal abuse.

She clarified that mutual support groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous can continue to meet in-person with the new restrictions without capacity restrictions as long as physical distancing guidelines are followed.

The chief medical officer of health was clear about the challenge ahead.

“For the next few weeks, every one of us needs to dramatically reduce the amount of contact we have with people outside our own household,” said Dr. Deena Hinshaw.

She added the province is working with the federal government to ensure that when a vaccine becomes available they will be ready to start immunizing those on the high-priority list.