Ontario region unanimously votes to publicly shame those who violate COVID-19 restrictions

The region of Niagara will start to publicly shame those who break COVID-19 restrictions by publishing the names of violators on their website. This is being done to discourage people and establishment from defying the rules.

Thorold News reported that the proposal received unanimous consent from the Niagara Regional Council at a special Wednesday night meeting, as part of a motion to ramp up the enforcement against those who do not adhere to the imposed restrictions.

The motion states that “any fines issued related to COVID-19 related by-laws and public health regulations by the NRP, Public Health, and municipal by-law officials be published.”

St. Catherine’s mayor, who brought the motion forward, said that "We have to start telling the public who's been fined, and highlighting that the time of education is done.”

Some restrictions imposed by the city include a section-22 order, which adds additional regulations to restaurants and bans people from dining with those who live in other households.

That order came into effect on November 11, and concern over the order, which was placed by Niagara’s medical officer of health, Dr. Mustafa Hirji, has since been expressed by the councils of other regions.

While the motion calls for a bi-weekly review of the Section 22 order, the order can only be imposed by the medical officer of health, which is an unelected office.

Dr. Hirji has since been ordered to work with  area town administrations to come up with a plan to strictly enforce these pandemic restrictions. The strict enforcement does include public shaming, a practice usually done by authoritarian communist governments.