Newfoundland woman arrested for refusing to self isolate after talking to police.

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — The arrest of a Newfoundland woman for refusing to stay home after she returned from a trip outside the province is raising questions about the extent to which law enforcement agencies can limit basic freedoms to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary confirmed Wednesday the 53-year-old woman was arrested the night before in Corner Brook and placed in a jail cell overnight for allegedly violating public health emergency orders aimed at slowing the spread of the virus.

Const. James Cadigan said officers responded to complaints alleging the woman was not self-isolating for 14 days, as required under Newfoundland and Labrador's Public Health Protection and Promotion Act.

He said officers spoke to the woman and arrested her for failing to comply with the law, which could lead to a fine of between $500 and $2,500 or a jail sentence of up to six months.

"If you're going to put our community at risk, we will follow up on those measures," Cadigan said.

However, the head of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association said police are on murky legal ground, even though dealing with a global pandemic can call for extraordinary measures.

"If it's a measure of last resort and the police exercise their discretion in a way that puts public health first ... then there is legal authorization to do this," said Michael Bryant, the association's executive director.

But Bryant said there are important constitutional issues to consider, and putting someone in jail is not necessarily the best approach.

"It's not clear to me that a quarantine order for travel outside of a province is constitutional," he said in an interview.

"Any travel order than restricts people's travel from province to province, arguably, could run afoul of our constitutional rights to mobility. This may be an opportunity to test this particular Newfoundland law that clearly restricts mobility rights."

Later in the day, the federal government announced it will start enforcing 14-day quarantines on travellers returning to Canada. Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said mandatory isolation is needed to flatten the curve of the growth of the novel coronavirus in Canada.

The formal quarantine order comes with the potential for arrests and fines.

In Quebec City, police arrested a woman last week who they say was infected with the virus and was walking outside after being ordered to stay indoors.

The arrest marked the first time Quebec City's public health director issued an order to police under emergency powers granted after Premier Francois Legault declared a public health emergency March 14.

"When it became obvious we had to act, we acted," Mathieu Boivin, spokesman for Quebec City's regional health authority, said last week.

Legault has said the health emergency gives the police "all sorts of powers" to enforce his directives. Quebec also announced fines of at least $1,000 against anyone ignoring directives that prohibit gatherings.

Last Sunday, Nova Scotia declared a state of emergency to deal with the pandemic and immediately enacted new restrictions and penalties under the province's Health Protection Act.

People in Nova Scotia are prohibited from gathering in groups larger than five. Individuals caught violating the limit face a $1,000 fine, and businesses allowing large groups to gather face a $7,500 fine.

On Monday, Prince Edward Island and the City of Vancouver also introduced new penalties for anyone caught violating public health directives.

P.E.I. Justice Minister Bloyce Thompson said there would be a fine of $1,000 for a first offence, $2,000 for a second offence and $10,000 for any subsequent offences.

Vancouver city council voted unanimously to permit fines as high as $50,000 against businesses that don't adhere to social distancing measures and up to $1,000 for individuals.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 25, 2020.

— By Michael MacDonald with files from Holly McKenzie-Sutter.

The Canadian Press

Taking someone's liberty away from them has to be taken judiciously. in the late 60's N.Y. state took the Public Intoxication Laws off the books. Reason, it gave the police too much arbitrary authority to judge who is drunk.

Taking someone's liberty away from them has to be taken judiciously. in the late 60's N.Y. state took the Public Intoxication Laws off the books. Reason, it gave the police too much arbitrary authority to judge who is drunk.

Laws change and exceptions are made during a Pandemic Tommy, you know that and that's why the Province has a legal right to do. They made it a law. There isn't a Provincial or Federal court that wouldn't find someone guilty who was purposely spreading a killer virus. No different if you had aids and don't care who you pass it on to a few years back.

Revision to the death count from 2 hours ago. We have 32 and you now have 919.

Ref your post #19. It's now the Republicans holding up the bill because they don't like something in it now that they have read it. The senate fiddles while America burns.

Taking someone's liberty away from them has to be taken judiciously. in the late 60's N.Y. state took the Public Intoxication Laws off the books. Reason, it gave the police too much arbitrary authority to judge who is drunk.

Laws change and exceptions are made during a Pandemic Tommy, you know that and that's why the Province has a legal right to do. They made it a law. There isn't a Provincial or Federal court that wouldn't find someone guilty who was purposely spreading a killer virus. No different if you had aids and don't care who you pass it on to a few years back.

Revision to the death count from 2 hours ago. We have 32 and you now have 919.

Laws change & exceptions made during anything deemed crisis. Habeas Corpus suspended by Lincoln & FDR, the Patriot Act after 9/11, & now this. The public intoxication thingy during eh 60's was a court decision which changed the existing law.

Taking someone's liberty away from them has to be taken judiciously. in the late 60's N.Y. state took the Public Intoxication Laws off the books. Reason, it gave the police too much arbitrary authority to judge who is drunk.

Laws change and exceptions are made during a Pandemic Tommy, you know that and that's why the Province has a legal right to do. They made it a law. There isn't a Provincial or Federal court that wouldn't find someone guilty who was purposely spreading a killer virus. No different if you had aids and don't care who you pass it on to a few years back.

Revision to the death count from 2 hours ago. We have 32 and you now have 919.

Laws change & exceptions made during anything deemed crisis. Habeas Corpus suspended by Lincoln & FDR, the Patriot Act after 9/11, & now this. The public intoxication thingy during eh 60's was a court decision which changed the existing law.

Further to the last, re: public intoxication laws. They were mostly used as a "catch all" whereby you could get stumble-bums off the streets & into jail overnight with 3 hots & a cot. The court deemed it gave way to much power to the police in determining who was & who was, & who was not drunk. Got a story that is somewhat related. Back in the day around that time the police & fire depts. were in a feud as to who had the authority to call an ambulance. An emergency call would go out on the radio & since the police were usually patrolling while the fire dept. was in their stations, the cops usually got there first. So the police would size up the situation & if required call for an ambulance. The fire dept. would show up shortly afterward & find out an ambulance was on the way & get pissed off. Anyway, both Chiefs had a meeting and came to an agreement the fire dept. would do the ambulance call.

Case in point, I'm on patrol with my partner & we come upon a man & woman rolling around the ground in a parking lot grappling & screaming at each other. We jump out of the patrol car & the guy identifies himself as an off duty cop who picked up this trollup at a local bar. He was of course married & thought he was going to have an afternoon delight in the back seat of his car when she went crazy resulting in the situation. We told him to get the hell out of here, radioed dispatch, subdued the drunk woman & waited for the fire dept. for the "sick woman" call. The firemen got there shortly & examined the woman & said she was drunk & it was our problem. I told them I thought she was sick & it was up to them to call an ambulance. Then my partner & I fled the scene leaving her with the fireman. Anyway there were lots of "har, har, hars" said in the patrol car after that. 

Your lucky a Mountie didn't show up Tommy because he would have had you all in cuffs.

Numbers took a jump there by yesterday evening Tommy. Don't look good at all. They are calling this a war in the WH but if it was a real war the war would be over because someone forgot to hand out the ammunition  

No closing statement was given at the G7 meeting because the countries wouldn't agree with the States on calling it the Wuhan Virus.

Seems like that's all the Presidents men wanted to discuss at the meeting and not how to keep the world spinning. 

Your lucky a Mountie didn't show up Tommy because he would have had you all in cuffs.

Nah Pete, he would have done the same thing. A more recent story, coming back from a fishing trip in northern Ontario. Left late to come home to avoid Toronto traffic. Somewhere in the middle of nowhere an OPP appears & pulls me over for speeding. Something about kmh vs. mph. So I tinned him & of course he let me carry on. See courtesy among the brotherhood.......and now sisterhood. I would have done the same for him.

No closing statement was given at the G7 meeting because the countries wouldn't agree with the States on calling it the Wuhan Virus. Seems like that's all the Presidents men wanted to discuss at the meeting and not how to keep the world spinning. Yes, let's all imagine we're in selfdelusionland, where those responsible get a free pass for deliberately murdering your citizens by the thousands and wish Trump's USA was responsible and we could then all do the opposite and froth at the mouth with psychotic indignation, but alas, we have Chinese arseoles to lick and libs just can't get enough of that fix.

Just because the Trump crowd wants to be rude and take the heat off themselves for being too slow out of the gate don't mean the rest of the world has to act the same. Détente must be used when world leaders meet and discuss things.

What is Détente so that you don't have to google it Major. It is the easing of strained relations, especially in a political situation, through verbal communication. 

The term in diplomacy originates around 1912 when France and Germany tried, without success, to reduce tensions.

Just because the Trump crowd wants to be rude and take the heat off themselves for being too slow out of the gate don't mean the rest of the world has to act the same. Détente must be used when world leaders meet and discuss things. Heaven forbid Trump should get rude with the Chinese about something as mundane as mass murder, I mean, has he no scruples, it would have been far better if he had got on his bended knees and begged them to kill more. Tip for you, there would be no need to be quick out of the gate if they had not lied about it and tried to keep it quiet, not to mention refusing all outside help from the rest of the world. I say again, get up off your knees. Does the fact that the Chinese slung the super lefty Washington Post, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal out of China at the time even tell you something? Of course not, you have TDS.

You seem to be reading my posts Major but nothing seems to be sinking in.

America has now passed Italy for it's number of cases and is less than a thousand from passing China. It logged it's highest death rate in one day today at 237.

If you ruled the world Major we wouldn't be worrying about the virus anymore it would be a world war that would destroy the entire world. Maybe you want to go out with a bang but most of us don't. 

But they did know about it Major, way back in early January. Their intel told them it was happening and coming but just like your Blonde fool who was probably also told by your intel the WH chose to ignore it. So now is not the time to keep blaming someone else for not heeding the warning that was given to both your leaders first hand.  Your leader and America's should have the words "incompetent leader" tattooed on their foreheads for this.   

Turdope is about to raise your carbon tax by 50%, imagine that in these desperate times? Millions losing their livelihoods and that wanker raises a tax on just about everything by 50%! You must be creaming your pants at that, nothing a lib loves more than being whipped by government. Millions of native born canadians will not be able to put food on the table in another six weeks but hey, let's look on the bright side, the Roxham crossing, which was Turdope's secret pet project for years, inviting hundreds of thousands of Africans in to be bussed to freebiesville for the rest of their lives, they won't have such problems, the Turdope governement will always feed them first, libs are like that, other people are always more virtuous, hard working, honest, generous and can teach the west a lesson and they should take precedence, and they won't have to worry about such mundane and boring matters like tax. We'll see who comes out of this the better and it won't be Canada with that ponce in charge. How's his eyebrow doing? I do hope that doesn't try to emigrate again. By the way, there's a petition being run in Canada at the moment to stop it, I know you won't sign it, lay that government whip on me one more time!

You seem to be reading my posts Major but nothing seems to be sinking in.

America has now passed Italy for it's number of cases and is less than a thousand from passing China. It logged it's highest death rate in one day today at 237.

If you ruled the world Major we wouldn't be worrying about the virus anymore it would be a world war that would destroy the entire world. Maybe you want to go out with a bang but most of us don't. 

But they did know about it Major, way back in early January. Their intel told them it was happening and coming but just like your Blonde fool who was probably also told by your intel the WH chose to ignore it. So now is not the time to keep blaming someone else for not heeding the warning that was given to both your leaders first hand.  Your leader and America's should have the words "incompetent leader" tattooed on their foreheads for this.   

Nobody likes the big rich kid on the block, you know the kid who owns the ball & then creates rules for playing. Well the world has been ruled by Anglo influence for centuries now, so it is only natural that the lessers find fault. It is human nature eh? Well if we all live long enough & China takes over, Pete will find fault with them too, & hope they fail. Always like that from those sitting in the crowd rather than those actually playing in the arena. 

Nobody likes the big rich kid on the block, When my brother arrived in Canada in 74, he knew absolutely sod all about Canada but one of the first things he noted and told me was that there is one thing that unites all Canadians, it's their dislike of the US. He went on to say that they all seemed to have this inferiority complex about them. I don't think things have changed much.

Tom, being English he naturally couldn't understand the concept of an inferiority complex and it was all very new and baffling to him.

Nobody likes the big rich kid on the block, When my brother arrived in Canada in 74, he knew absolutely sod all about Canada but one of the first things he noted and told me was that there is one thing that unites all Canadians, it's their dislike of the US. He went on to say that they all seemed to have this inferiority complex about them. I don't think things have changed much.

Still the same Major, maybe even worse. Most of their population lives within a 100 miles or so from our border & benefit from our factories for work. Ford, GM, Chrysler just to name a few. Canucks have always had an inferiority & identity crisis not knowing whether they are British or American, & wishing they were either. 

Off topic, the beavers are working hard now that spring has sprung. I am sure that Pete would know this, but if you ever wondered if a beaver gets killed by a falling tree, the answer is not often. They gnaw just enough of the tree & let the wind take it down later. I just witnessed that the other day.

I've never seen a beaver but I have seen a beaver dam, in Algonquin Park. Super impressive and you marvel at their ability to build it in what was such fast flowing water. I also got to see a half chewed tree and again, you think, geeez, how can they do that? We talked a while ago about them having been reintroduced back into Scotland. They are now talking of reintroducing Lynx.

Boris Johnson has got it now. He's been on TV sounding like he's got a bad cold which, like the Prince of Wales, are mild symptoms. That's how bad it will most likely get in those under 70 or so. 

NYS governor Cuomo has suggested he may temporarily ban the sale of cigarettes starting this Monday. Reason is that smokers contracting Covid are at a much higher risk for needing a ventilator thus denying others the use of same. Question, do you Limeys light up a fag or two now & then?

It is a vile filthy habit and I loved it back when I was a cig smoker. There was nothing like that cig with a pint, or with your morning brew on the building site, or strolling over hills. Loved 'em. We all know what they can do to you and we can all make the choice.

Carbon tax Major, we aren't producing any oil to tax. Also our factories and most of our industry is also shut down. Suppose you read that on Rebel News eh!

Trudeau does seem to be ahead though with getting funding to the people during this problem. The UI offices are closed to the public but you only have to go on line to get yourself set up for it. Wait times have been cut to down to 10 days now. Day care places are all shut down but special one's have stayed open so Doctors and medical staff don't have to lose time and can keep on working. I would have to give passing grades right now to both our Federal and Ontario Provincial Conservative governments the way they are handing things.

If your store gets caught price fixing you can be fined half a million bucks. 

Boris Johnson has got it now. He's been on TV sounding like he's got a bad cold which, like the Prince of Wales, are mild symptoms. That's how bad it will most likely get in those under 70 or so. 

NYS governor Cuomo has suggested he may temporarily ban the sale of cigarettes starting this Monday. Reason is that smokers contracting Covid are at a much higher risk for needing a ventilator thus denying others the use of same. Question, do you Limeys light up a fag or two now & then?

Further to the last. Most people who have smoked for years have already compromised their lungs & capacity. So if fags are banned for six weeks what difference will that make?  

I have smoked Tommy for 60 years now. My lungs are already ruined. I did stop for 5 weeks when I came out of hospital, but then sitting around in the house not able to move around or do much I started up again. Only a couple a day at first, but before I knew it I was back to a 25 pack a day. 

Glad to hear the UN stepped up and gave NY 150,000 masks. Knowing how Trump thinks and says about the UN it's pretty bad when they can step up and get something done when he can't. I know I have said it before but will say it again, he's not fit to be President of the United States of America. 

Glad to hear the UN stepped up and gave NY 150,000 masks. Funny, I thought NY was a democratic city run by a democratic mayor. Maybe Trump should move in their and wipe his arse for him, as he doesn't seem able to do it himself. Mind you, nobody can scapegoat like a Dem. Wait a minute, maybe it's those billionaires who are responsible. I say billionaires because I don't want ol' millionaire Bernie lumping in with the rich. Get this for Dem conspiracy theories, or should I say TDS? The sufferers are wondering why the greatest outbreaks are in Dem country? I smell a Trump plan to kill off all Dem areas, just ask Pete, he'll confirm it.

Glad to hear the UN stepped up and gave NY 150,000 masks. Funny, I thought NY was a democratic city run by a democratic mayor. Maybe Trump should move in their and wipe his arse for him, as he doesn't seem able to do it himself. Mind you, nobody can scapegoat like a Dem. Wait a minute, maybe it's those billionaires who are responsible. I say billionaires because I don't want ol' millionaire Bernie lumping in with the rich. Get this for Dem conspiracy theories, or should I say TDS? The sufferers are wondering why the greatest outbreaks are in Dem country? I smell a Trump plan to kill off all Dem areas, just ask Pete, he'll confirm it.

The governor of New Jersey closed all the gun shops in the Garden State, & then released thousands of inmates from prison. Pete can probably explain the "logic" here. Give it a "shot" Pete. Pun intended.

Glad to hear the UN stepped up and gave NY 150,000 masks. Funny, I thought NY was a democratic city run by a democratic mayor. Maybe Trump should move in their and wipe his arse for him, as he doesn't seem able to do it himself. Mind you, nobody can scapegoat like a Dem. Wait a minute, maybe it's those billionaires who are responsible. I say billionaires because I don't want ol' millionaire Bernie lumping in with the rich. Get this for Dem conspiracy theories, or should I say TDS? The sufferers are wondering why the greatest outbreaks are in Dem country? I smell a Trump plan to kill off all Dem areas, just ask Pete, he'll confirm it.

The governor of New Jersey closed all the gun shops in the Garden State, & then released thousands of inmates from prison. Pete can probably explain the "logic" here. Give it a "shot" Pete. Pun intended.

Think of all the dumb ass things you have done throughout life & to think now you could die from touching your face!!! That should really piss you off.

Funny, I thought NY was a democratic city run by a democratic mayor. Maybe Trump should move in their and wipe his arse for him, as he doesn't seem able to do it himself. Mind you, nobody can scapegoat like a Dem. Wait a minute, maybe it's those billionaires who are responsible. I say billionaires because I don't want ol' millionaire Bernie lumping in with the rich. Get this for Dem conspiracy theories, or should I say TDS? The sufferers are wondering why the greatest outbreaks are in Dem country? I smell a Trump plan to kill off all Dem areas, just ask Pete, he'll confirm it. So you must have read then that Florida seems to get all the supplies for this virus they ask for but all the other States are only getting a quarter of what they have asked for. Oh darn, the Governor of Florida is a Republican Major, imagine that. Looks like your theory is right. How on earth did you find this all out Major. I see Tommy your Coppers and Fire fighter in NY are getting hit pretty hard with this out break. That's not good for sure.

The governor of New Jersey closed all the gun shops in the Garden State, & then released thousands of inmates from prison. Pete can probably explain the "logic" here. Give it a "shot" Pete. Pun intended.

Smart Governor he is. He's not only thinking about the virus spreading now he's already looking ahead at a "Make Work Project" after, rounding all the bad guys back up again. 

Need more Governors like him Tommy.