Hundreds of calls made to Sask. COVID-19 report line, handful of tickets issued

Hundreds of Saskatchewan residents have reported people they suspected of violating the province's COVID-19 public health orders, leading to approximately 14 tickets being issued by police services across the province. 

The province launched a toll-free number — separate from the 811 health line — in late March to give residents a place to ask non-health-related questions on COVID-19 and report violations of public health orders, such as cases of people not self-isolating after travel. 

As of April 15, the toll free line had received 3,339 calls, with 2,620 classified as general inquiry and 719 related to the potential violation of public health orders.

Saskatoon, the province's largest city, saw the largest number of calls related to COVID-19 response, with 174 complaints received since March 18, but the city's police service has not issued a single ticket. 

Saskatoon police inspector James Oliver said that overall residents have been taking the public health orders seriously.

"People are very concerned about health and public safety and trying to abide by those guidelines. Sometimes we just have to provide some education as to what those guidelines are and the impact their decision has on the community," he said.

Oliver said the response from police varies widely between calls. He said most have been from people concerned about a gathering, but noted many reports have been unfounded. 

"By the time we respond and look into the situation, we're finding that the numbers just aren't there," he said. "People are just really concerned at this point and trying to stay attentive of what's going on in the community." 

Public response to police varies 

The Regina Police Service has received 52 calls categorized as COVID-related. Regina officers have issued one ticket so far, to a 23-year-old woman who had tested positive for COVID-19 and refused to self-isolate after being warned. 

Elizabeth Popowich, a spokeswoman for the Regina Police Service, said many of the calls have resulted in officers providing some education or answering questions about the orders. She said compliance is the goal, as opposed to writing tickets.

She said most people the police have interacted with were understanding or even apologetic, but that responses have varied. 

"Sometimes people downplay it a little, they think that maybe the rules didn't apply to them or maybe this pandemic thing is a bit overblown," she said. "We remind them that they're still expected to comply, and they do." 

Popowich offered a few examples. She said there was one family for whom English was not the first language and who didn't fully understand the law. In another example, someone reported a mass gathering, but everyone involved lived together. 

Both the Regina Police Service and the Saskatoon Police Service say that while COVID-19 calls are an addition to their regular workload, they've been able to handle the influx. In Regina, for example, some officers who were originally working in schools or community positions have been reassigned. 

Enforcement lines could be problematic

Dr. Alison Thompson, an associate professor at the University of Toronto and an expert on public health policy, said Saskatchewan's toll-free number may be doing more harm than good, as it could create divides within the community.

"If you wanted to design an intervention that could undermine the public's trust in each other and the sense of solidarity that we've seen being built and the community cohesion, you would design this particular intervention," she said. 

Thompson said social unity is critical for getting through the pandemic and that the government should be looking at why people are unable to follow public-health orders, and offering them support, as opposed to ticketing them.

"Enforcement of these social distancing measures is really important, but let's use a carrot and not a stick and let's not turn on each other," she said. 

Thompson also noted that people already in marginalized populations may be be unfairly targeted, as they may not have the same level of access to basic needs required to follow the public-health orders safely. 

"We know that there are large segments of the population who can't comply with these measures," she said.

Premier Scott Moe said the public health orders are not about enforcement, but compliance. 

"The goal has never been about how many tickets we can issue," Moe said.

Moe also touched on how provincial officials are working to connect with community leaders, including those in Saskatchewan's north, to ensure people have the information they need. 

Dr. Saqib Shahab, the province's chief medical health officer, said every individual has a role to play in flattening the curve. 

"That has to continue as we go ahead into the weeks and months and even as some measures are relaxed," he said, noting the public health orders are the "new normal."

RCMP behind majority of charges

Since the public health orders were put in place, Saskatchewan RCMP have responded to 894 COVID-19 related calls,  including 395 related to not-isolating, 229 related to large gatherings and 270 others. 

RCMP have laid 13 charges related to COVID-19 health order violations, including 11 people who were charged all at once in late March. 

Police services in Saskatchewan's smaller municipalities are also dealing with COVID-19 complaints. The Prince Albert Police Service responded to 47 calls in relations to the public health order between March 1 and April 13, but no fines were issued. 

The same situation goes for the Estevan Police Service, where Chief Paul Ladouceur said things have been going "very well," with 27 COVID-19 related calls in March, 10 in April and no tickets issued.

In Moose Jaw, police say they have not received many calls in relation to the public health orders and that those they have received were unfounded. As of April 16, no tickets were issued. 

In Weyburn, acting police chief Rod Stafford said the police service has taken 21 calls for service related to COVID-19, with only one coming from the toll-free line. He said he felt the introduction of the line "was a fantastic idea."

"People have to have some way to call to get some information or report incidents, and had this number not been created, those calls typically would have all come through a police-dispatch centre, which would have had an impact on resources," he said.

Concerns about over policing elsewhere in Canada being raised

While there have only been a handful of fines in Saskatchewan, fines and tickets elsewhere in the country have caused concern for the Canadian Civil Liberties Association. 

Michael Bryant, the association's executive director and general counsel, said that in places like Quebec the number of COVID-19 fines is on track to surpass the number of cases recorded in the province.

"It's a policing pandemic," he said on CBC Saskatchewan's Afternoon Edition.

He said the CCLA is trying to get people who have been ticketed as a result of a COVID-19 offence to come forward and fill out a form on the organization's website. 

"It's fear and anxiety driving decisions by politicians and by police instead of the public health crisis being driven by science," he said. "It's understandable that people are anxious, but some of them are taking it out on their neighbours by calling into the snitch lines and the rage lines and filling up their politicians' voicemail boxes with complaints." 

He said that while Canadians are free to express concerns, politicians may be basing decisions on the emotions and fear they're hearing from their constituents, as opposed to what the science is saying. 

"We don't live in a police state. We're not supposed to have politicians ordering around the enforcers, but that's clearly happening," he said.

He said the CCLA is still collecting data on COVID-19 policing in Saskatchewan. 

Bryant said there's no scientific evidence that these measures are effective in deterring people from behaving poorly during the pandemic.

Province will assess reports and reactions

Dr. Shahab said Saskatchewan plans to do an analysis of the calls that came into the toll-free line, alongside other avenues for expressing concern, and compile a summary of how they were handled at a later date.

As of Friday afternoon, Saskatchewan has had 307 confirmed cases of COVID-19.