How does enforcement of COVID-19 orders work in B.C.?

In the weeks since COVID-19 was declared a provincial health emergency in B.C., provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry has taken pains to explain to British Columbians that her orders now have the weight of the law behind them.

Gatherings of 50 or more people are banned.

Restaurants can only serve takeout. 

And "personal service establishments" like nail salons, tattoo parlours and barbershops have to close.

For the most part, Henry has said she believes people are complying. But you don't have to look too far to see someone ignoring her directives — either on purpose, or unwittingly.

So what are the consequences? And how do penalties in a state of emergency work?

Who is responsible for enforcing Henry's orders?

Medical health officers are responsible for enforcing provincial health orders, and quarantine officers enforce the application of the federal Quarantine Act.

Police officers and compliance and enforcement officers — like bylaw officers, gambling enforcement officers and liquor and licensing inspectors — do not have the power to ticket and detain people in relation to public health orders. But they can assist medical health officers in enforcing orders.

An exception is in the City of Vancouver, which declared its own state of emergency and where city council has given bylaw officers the power to issue $1,000 tickets for individual offences and fines of up to $50,000 for businesses.

So can you be ticketed for not maintaining physical distance?

This is a muddy one. There are no actual orders in B.C. requiring people to maintain two metres of physical distance outside of their own homes, except inside food premises.

But the public has been given strong guidance and recommendations.

According to provincial guidance, compliance and bylaw officers are not expected to monitor the behaviour of individuals in public, but they can take complaints.

The guidelines suggest that some complaints may be the result of a lack of the complainant's understanding of who needs to self-isolate. Officers are given a script thanking the complainant for sharing their concerns and advising them of a number of resources they can contact for more information.

But don't people have to self-quarantine when they come back from abroad?

There are two orders in relation to travellers. Henry ordered all travellers returning to Canada into self-isolation. But the federal government has also issued an order for 14-days quarantine under the federal Quarantine Act.

Under the terms of that act, a quarantine officer can order someone's arrest and have them detained.

Contravening an order under the act and placing the lives of other at risk can result in fines of hundreds of thousands of dollars and jail time.

So which orders are bylaw officers helping enforce?

The prohibition of mass gatherings of more than 50 people. Orders to travellers to self-isolate. Orders to restaurants to restrict service to take-out. Orders to bars to close. Orders to personal service establishments like beauty salons to close. And orders that only food vendors can remain open at farmers markets.

And if they aren't arresting people, how are they doing it?

A big part of this comes down to the ethical framework that underpins the province's approach to the pandemic. 

A document released by the provincial COVID-19 task force says the government will consider the infringement of personal freedoms during a crisis and commit to the least restrictive and coercive measures possible. That means being transparent about the motivations for any restrictions on liberty and trying to get the public to buy in.

With that in mind, compliance and enforcement officers are supposed to assist in the provision of public education in order to gain compliance without the need for law enforcement intervention.

In the case of restaurants that don't comply, that involves first identifying a "responsible person" for an explanation of the rules. Then to explain that the enforcement "could be escalated" if an order is ignored and to lay out a timeline for actions that will be taken in the case of non-compliance.

Finally, if none of that works, the compliance and enforcement officer contacts the medical health officer, who then has the power to act.

But what about jail or a fine?

These are the ultimate weapons in the enforcement arsenal.

The Public Health Act lays out penalties including $25,000 and six months in jail for people who don't comply with health orders.

Judges also have an array of alternative penalties to choose from, including community service and monitoring.

They can also order the publication of the facts of a case, which in effect will serve to shame an offender into compliance.