May 14, 2020
New Regulation Enables Designated Provincial Officials to Enforce Emergency Public Health and Health Hazard Orders
The Manitoba government is designating additional provincial government officials to enforce public health emergency orders and emergency health hazard orders in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Premier Brian Pallister announced today.
“As we slowly and carefully begin to restart our economy and loosen some restrictions on non-essential services and businesses, there will be a need for additional supports to enforce the current measures in place,” said Pallister. “We have authorized additional provincial personnel to ensure we have the capacity for enforcement if necessary to help keep Manitobans healthy and safe and keep our COVID curve flat.”
The Additional Enforcement Personnel Regulation, enacted under The Public Heath Act, provides authority to government officials designated in the regulation to enforce public health emergency orders and emergency health hazard orders. This includes:
• safety and health officers under The Workplace Safety and Health Act;
• inspectors under The Liquor Gaming and Cannabis Control Act;
• public health officers appointed under The Public Health Act;
• park patrol officers under The Provincial Parks Act; and
• public health officers within Manitoba Agriculture and Resource Development including food safety inspectors, animal health inspectors and animal protection officers.
In addition, with the assistance of Manitoba Conservation officers, who already have the ability to enforce these orders, provincial park patrol officers will be able to enforce public health emergency orders related to public travel, social distancing and gathering size.
In all, more than 3,000 provincial and municipal personnel can be deployed to enforce COVID-related orders. These officials will operate in their regular roles and provide education and warnings to businesses in their sectors as required. As with other enforcement agencies, tickets will be issued as a last resort.
Other agencies that are able to enforce these orders include:
• RCMP, Winnipeg Police Service, Brandon Police Service and other municipal police agencies;
• community safety officers;
• First Nations safety officers; and
• bylaw enforcement officers.
Complementing formal enforcement efforts is Operation Safe Apart, which provides an operational framework for the overall enforcement. Operation Safe Apart includes the recruitment of volunteers to assist with public awareness and education with respect to public health orders (PHOs), and refer matters for formal enforcement as necessary. These efforts can be undertaken by a number of organizations including City of Winnipeg community safety ambassadors, Citizens on Patrol (COPP) and the Bear Clan in co-ordination with provincial and municipal officials.
In the coming days, the Help Next Door MB website and app will be updated to include a section that will assist in matching municipalities with volunteers. Further information will be available at https://helpnextdoormb.ca/.
In Winnipeg, reports of non-compliance can be made by calling 311, by email at 311@winnipeg.ca or on Twitter @cityofwinnipeg.
Outside of Winnipeg, reports of non-compliance can be made to the Manitoba Government Inquiry line at 204-945-3744, (toll-free) at 1-866-626-4862 or by email at mgi@gov.mb.ca.
A comprehensive list of Manitoba government COVID-19 measures can be found at:
https://manitoba.ca/bg/2020/04/covid19.html.
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