Faced with the surge in Covid-19 cases – 933 new cases for the single day of Thursday 1er October out of a population of eight million – the government of Quebec announced on Monday that three regions, including Montreal and Quebec, were now in “red zone”, the maximum health alert level. Since Thursday morning, their inhabitants have been subject to new restrictions which establish de facto containment which does not speak its name, and which will remain in force at least until October 28.
” The figures are final, we must take our responsibilities ”Argued the Prime Minister, François Legault (Coalition Avenir Québec, center right, moderate nationalist), to justify the coercive method with which the government intends to apply its new measures. While it is now forbidden to receive friends or family at home, with the exception of single people who are entitled to a visit from a loved one or a caregiver, the police have in fact been given a mandate to enforce these instructions to the home of any offenders.
Armed with a judicial authorization issued on simple telephone request by a judge – a procedure whose legal value is already disputed by certain legal experts – the police can now enter a person’s home and impose a fine of C $ 1,500 (960 euros) in the event of an infringement. If the government has refused to want to conduct a ” witch hunt “, He remained unclear on the reasons that could push the police to intervene in one house rather than another, content to mention “Reports”. A Montreal police official, who wishes to remain anonymous, already fears ” that a wave of denouncements does not come again, as last spring, to submerge [les] telephone switchboards “.
The restrictions applied to private gatherings are also applied to public, festive or political gatherings. Anti-mask demonstrators in particular, who regularly give voice to Quebec, will therefore be liable to this prohibitive fine if they do not comply with the obligation to wear a face cover. The Prime Minister rejected any accusation of wanting to restrict fundamental freedoms, considering, conversely, that it is the people who trample on the instructions “By recklessness or negligence” that endanger the lives of others.
You have 49.49% of this article to read. The rest is for subscribers only.
