Police officers aren't permitted to randomly pull over drivers to check if they are violating Ontario's stay-at-home order, the solicitor general's office confirmed after some reports of traffic stops arose when the emergency order kicked in today.
Newmarket Mayor John Taylor said he heard from a Newmarket resident who told him they were stopped by York Regional Police this morning and requested to show proof of being an essential worker.
"I believe that the province has indicated that proof of being an essential service or essential worker etc. is not required," he said at a York Region council meeting today. "I'm fine if it's required or not required, but I think we need a consistency of approach and fair approach, and I know one of my residents this morning was stopped by YRP and was told they had to produce a letter, and next time they would be fine. If that's accurate, fine, but I think we need clarity on that."
York Regional Police spokesperson Laura Nicolle said she while she could not provide more information about the stop without details such as a licence plate number, she said officers are not randomly enforcing the emergency order with traffic stops.
"We haven't instructed officers to stop people and demand where they are going," she said.
She also noted that the local police are working with other departments to find a consistent approach to enforcement. But if any mistakes were made on the first day of the stay-at-home order, citizens do have some recourse.
"If a person was stopped and they feel they should not have been, we encourage them to file a complaint with the supervisor at the district where it occurred or through the Office of the Independent Police Review Director, which is an independent review body," said Nicolle.
The office of Solicitor General Sylvia Jones said today that the order doesn't give police the power to enter homes or stop vehicles solely to check if the measure is being followed. Essential workers are not required to have proof from their employers that they are travelling to work.
"On its own, being outside is not sufficient evidence of a failure to comply with the stay-at-home order," spokesman Stephen Warner said.
Ontarians are required to stay home except for essential purposes such as grocery shopping, accessing health care and exercising outdoors.
Critics have called the stay-at-home order unclear but Premier Doug Ford has asked residents to use their "best judgment" in deciding whether or not to go out.
The province sent police services a memo on enforcing the order but refused to make it public.
— With files from the Canadian Press
