Corey Yanofsky, a data scientist living in Ottawa, took his
dog out for a walk last week and ended up with an $880 fine for standing in the
wrong place during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Obi Ifedi of Ottawa was walking through a park with his
daughter April 4 when he was approached by a city bylaw officer. He says he was
eventually tackled and ended the evening with a bruised lip and fines totalling
more than $2,000.
Then there was Melissa Leblanc of the Montreal suburb of
Beaconsfield, who was greeted by police at her door April 5 after family and
friends wished her a happy birthday from their cars.
They are just a handful of the hundreds of Canadians feeling
the impact of policies that governments have put in place since March aimed at
stopping the spread of COVID-19. But experts in criminology and law are pushing
back against the conventional wisdom that giving police the power to levy heavy
fines will make people safer.
They argue public health directives are unclear, and the way
they are being enforced is counterproductive and a distraction from the failure
of the state to better prepare for COVID-19. Moreover, they say, the heavy
fines disproportionately affect people of limited means, people of colour and
marginalized communities.
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