Vernon councillor calls for fines, tougher action for breaking social distancing rules

A Vernon city councillor is calling for the City to take a more hardline approach and fine people for ignoring the province's rules for social distancing.

"I feel for the most part people are doing their part, but we're still seeing videos on social media of people gathering in public places," Dalvir Nahal told iNFOnews.ca. "If people aren't going to listen maybe we need to enforce this."

Nahal said she'd seen kids playing basketball just yesterday, March 27, and knows a family who had a little get together at their house. She called both behaviours are unacceptable.

The province enacted the Emergency Program Act, March 26, adding more force to orders issued by the provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry.

Nahal said the City needs to act on what powers they have and possibly follow the direction of the City of Vancouver which enabled special powers to issue fines and come down hard on people seen breaking social distancing rules.

"All I'm seeing is the numbers are going higher they are not going down, to see those numbers start to decline we need to stop going outside," she said.

The City has shut down playgrounds and recreational facilities, but Nahal says people still need to practice social distancing in the parks and on trails.

The councillor, who has cancer, said she knows the vast majority of people are following the rules, but the lack of compliance by a few can have a much larger impact and a tougher approach is needed.

Nahal said she couldn't emphasize enough the seriousness of the situation and her heart went out to people who had lost their jobs, and to the local businesses forced to close.

"This is a very very sad time," she said.

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