Manitoba collects only 17 per cent of monetary value of COVID-19 fines
The Manitoba government has collected just $1.6 million of the $9.5 million issued in COVID-19 fines, despite the threat people who violated pandemic restrictions would have to pay up.
In total, 3,723 tickets worth $9,529,317 in fines were issued for violations of provincial and federal pandemic restrictions that limited gathering sizes, for example.
As of May 31, $1,616,408 had been collected for tickets issued under the Provincial Offences Act for provincial statute offences, federal contraventions and municipal bylaw offences. More than half of the tickets have been dealt with or dismissed and 1,512 tickets were unpaid and sent to collection agencies.
In April 2021, when Manitoba was averaging more than 150 COVID-19 deaths a day, then-Tory premier Brian Pallister promised that rule-breakers would pay a financial penalty.
'I will say to those folks: you will pay your fine, and if you do not, you will not be driving your car,' Pallister said after beefing up enforcement of pandemic rules intended to reduce the spread of COVID-19, including the threat to take driver's licences away.
While the province dropped nearly all pandemic response restrictions in March 2022, those unpaid fines remain on the books.
Manitoba Public Insurance said Tuesday the registrar of motor vehicles can refuse to issue or renew a driver's licence, vehicle registration or permit and refuse to accept payment on a person's driver's licence or vehicle registration if that customer has unpaid provincial fines.
The Crown corporation spokesperson could not say how many licences or registrations have been refused specifically because of outstanding COVID-19 fines because MPI doesn't track the type of unpaid tickets.
Patrick Allard, an outspoken violator of the public health orders, who was given seven years to pay his fines, said the province should forgive them and refund people who've already paid their tickets.
Allard said the public mood has shifted and many moderate Manitobans now believe the orders were too stringent and had penalties that were too harsh.
'I think, now, we're far enough away from what was happening and the majority of people are looking at it in a different way,' Allard said Tuesday. 'They may realize that the government was too heavy-handed — ticketing people (for) going to church, as an example.'
'I will say to those folks: you will pay your fine, and if you do not, you will not be driving your car.'–Then-Tory premier Brian Pallister
Allard was one of five Manitobans convicted of repeatedly violating public health orders intended to curb the spread of the virus.
They organized, attended or spoke at anti-lockdown rallies in Winnipeg, Steinbach and Winkler — which was a breach of restrictions on outdoor gatherings — between November 2020 and May 2021.
'Just because you lose a court case doesn't mean you should just give up and sell the farm,' said Allard, whose fines total around $35,000 and are due in 2029.
He called on the NDP government to declare an 'amnesty' on COVID-19 fines.
'I think it would be a small price to pay to turn the page.'
Allard said the public health orders were deeply divisive and made a stressful time even worse. Now the fines are adding to financial pressure faced by many Manitobans, he said.
'I think it would be a small price to pay to turn the page.'–Patrick Allard
Failing to comply with a public health emergency order in Manitoba, for example, resulted in fines of $1,296 for a first offence and $2,542 for subsequent offences for individuals and $5,000 for businesses.
Failing to wear a mask in a public place netted fines of $298 for a first ticket and $486 for subsequent tickets.
Violations of the federal statutes under the Quarantine Act included a $1,453 fine for failing to present oneself to a screening officer at the nearest entry point. Failing to comply with an order regarding a treatment or a measure to prevent the introduction and spread of a communicable disease netted a fine of $5,150.
Allard said it's time for the provincial government to forgive them.
'People are looking back and saying 'maybe it was a little bit stupid, putting on a mask to walk into a restaurant just to sit down and take it off.' I think everybody — besides your hard-core holdouts — are looking back now and saying 'Yeah, that was kind of ridiculous',' he said.
'I don't think it would be a bad political move for the NDP to do this because I don't think they would lose any fans. They would gain some moderates,' said the aspiring politician who has vowed to run in the 2027 provincial election.
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In late 2023, the NDP was elected to government, replacing the Tories.
On Tuesday, Justice Minister Matt Wiebe was not available for an interview to discuss COVID-19 fines. A spokesperson for the minister said the fines issued during the COVID-19 pandemic will not be forgiven.
Of the 3,723 tickets issued, 2,129 were disposed because the ticket had been paid, or it was disputed and the court dismissed it, or a Crown attorney stayed proceedings.
In total, 1,512 were not paid on time and were forwarded to collection agencies.
Eighty-two are considered 'active,' where a defendant may be in a time-to-pay period following an admission or conviction.
The legislation states that the amount of an unpaid fine for provincial offences or federal contraventions is a debt due to the government. Payments on fines as a result of collections activities may occur for months or years following a conviction.
carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca
Carol SandersLegislature reporter
Carol Sanders is a reporter at the Free Press legislature bureau. The former general assignment reporter and copy editor joined the paper in 1997. Read more about Carol.
Every piece of reporting Carol produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
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