Methinks the RCMP in Fundy Royal learned a hard lesson about giving out Higgy's Police State tickets after the circus at Tims in Hampton hit the Rebel News bigtime months ago N'esy Pas?
I have an incredible update to the story of Walter Matheson. He's the Hampton, New Brunswick resident who was ticketed almost $300 by police for failure to comply with emergency measures in a Tim Hortons parking lot while he ate his muffin and finished his coffee, completely alone in his car.
The thing is: Walter did try to comply, but the police officer stopped him, then ticketed him — even swearing at Walter at one point. It was almost too crazy to be true, however, we know it happened the way Walter describes, because Walter brilliantly recorded the interaction he had with the officer that day and gave it to us.
Now, I am part of the story because the police officer who ticketed Walter is coming after me. He had a lawyer send a legal threat letter to Rebel HQ accusing me of defaming him! But I’m not so sure the lawyer even watched my 10 minute video I made talking about Walter’s case, even though hundreds of thousands of other people have.
She wrote: “We understand your reporter recorded a conversation without the knowledge of Constable Thompson... In addition Sheila Gunn Reid repeatedly mentions his name in the article”. I did neither of those things, but even if I had, neither one is illegal.
And, unbelievably, the lawyer wants my copy of Walter’s recording turned over to the RCMP in Hampton.
No way. Today I will take you through the full letter I received from the law offices of Lutz, Longstaff and Parish in Hampton New Brunswick and let you hear what happened when Ezra called that law office to try to get to the bottom of all of this.
Cst. Thompson and his lawyer demanding I remove critical information from my story and turn over my journalistic materials to the police proves my original thesis: This cop is a bully. He tried to bully Walter Matheson in a Tim Hortons parking lot and now he’s trying to bully me, But it didn't work on Walter, and it won't work on me.
Police gave out at least 17 fines to people who allegedly broke emergency rules
Head of civil liberties watchdog says incidents that drew fines are ‘trivial’
Karissa Donkin· CBC News· Posted: Aug 06, 2020 6:00 AM AT
The Miramichi Police Force handed out tickets to people who weren't social distancing, among other violations of emergency rules. (CBC)
Police agencies across New Brunswick have issued at least 17 tickets to people who allegedly weren't following emergency rules — for offences ranging from not social distancing to touching people at a restaurant.
CBC News filed several access to information requests after a number of police forces refused to say how many tickets their officers have handed out, emphasizing that education is the primary objective before giving out tickets.
The new data sheds light not just on the number of tickets given to alleged rule-breakers, but the reasons why people were fined.
There's no evidence that the deterrent of getting a ticket with a fine has any impact on how people behave when it comes to preventing COVID-19, according to Michael Bryant, the executive director of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.
Beyond that, he said, ticketing people "is an infringement of liberty" that isn't justified in these circumstances.
"When I look at the evidence that you've unearthed about why these tickets have been handed out, these are frankly trivial and certainly not reckless or harmful activities," Bryant said in an interview after reviewing the ticketing data from the police forces.
"In fact, we have no evidence that it prevented a single instance of COVID from being contracted."
Michael Bryant, executive director of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, described the incidents that drew fines from New Brunswick police agencies as 'trivial.' (Jacqueline Hansen/CBC)
A June report released by the civil liberties watchdog and the Policing the Pandemic mapping project, which tracks enforcement of COVID-19 rules across the country, found that $13 million in COVID-related fines had been handed out across the country between April 1 and June 15. The tickets were predominantly issued in Quebec, Ontario and Nova Scotia.
No data from NB RCMP
While people were ticketed for not social distancing in some cases, no fines were handed out at a large gathering at Grand Lake in July. Photos of the event on social media show a large group of people swimming, boating and drinking together.
The 17 tickets captured in this data don't include any tickets handed out by provincial enforcement officers in New Brunswick. These are the provincial employees, including forest rangers and corrections officers, who have been trained to make sure the emergency rules are respected.
Earlier this year, CBC News found that New Brunswickers have received more than $20,000 worth of fines from provincial enforcement officers, primarily at key provincial border points. Few details have been made available around what people in those cases did to warrant a $292.50 fine.
Data is also missing from the New Brunswick RCMP, which declined to say how many tickets it has issued. CBC News has filed an access to information request to get the data.
"The New Brunswick RCMP is not releasing the number of tickets that have been issued as issuing tickets is only one part of our enforcement efforts and does not reflect all of the work that is being done collaboratively with communities, our policing partners and the province," New Brunswick RCMP spokesperson Jullie Rogers-Marsh said earlier this summer.
The New Brunswick RCMP has not provided its data, saying it prefers to focus on education first. (Shane Magee/CBC)
In neighbouring Nova Scotia, the RCMP regularly issued news releases about its COVID-19 enforcement efforts for several months.
"It cannot be right that the same police force, the RCMP, is secretive in one province and providing disclosure in the other," Bryant said.
Not social distancing
The Miramichi Police Force initially declined to say how many tickets were issued for people who allegedly haven't followed the Emergency Measures Act.
"Although I do not wish to comment on the issuing of tickets, we have been following the advice of the chief medical officer for the province of [New Brunswick] in trying to educate as many people as we can on COVID-19 and what people can do to try and reduce the spread of the virus," Miramichi police Chief Paul Fiander said in April.
After CBC News filed an access to information request, the police force revealed that it had issued seven tickets between March 19 and June 26, more than any other municipal police force. The region had only two COVID-19 cases during that time frame.
New Brunswick's top doctor discusses the need for a collective approach to combating Coronavirus in the province by staying vigilant. 9:55
In one instance where the Miramichi Police Force handed out tickets, three people were fined after "a complaint was received about the individuals hanging out at a residence that none of them belonged to," the records show. Police had already warned them once before.
In a separate case, two people were fined for not social distancing in a private parking lot. "Both had been asked to leave the area several times by the complainant," the records say.
Two other people were fined in separate instances for not social distancing, including one person inside an apartment building.
According to the information provided by the police, the seven people who were ticketed didn't pay their fines, didn't show up for their scheduled court appearances and were deemed guilty by a provincial court judge.
Fiander was not available for an interview on Wednesday.
No tickets issued by several police forces
The Fredericton Police Force also declined to provide details on its tickets, until CBC News filed an access to information request.
The police force issued four $292.50 tickets between March 19 and June 26. In all four cases, court dates have been set for September or October.
The Fredericton Police Force handed out four fines to alleged emergency rule-breakers between March 19 and June 26, data shows. (Fredericton Police Force/Twitter)
In one case, police fined a young person on Hillcourt Drive for allegedly visiting another home during a pandemic.
In another, a person was fined on King Street for allegedly "touching people without permission at [a] food establishment."
Several police agencies, including the Kennebecasis Regional Police Force, Grand Falls Police Force and the BNPP Regional Police, reported that they haven't issued any tickets.
The province's chief medical officer of health, Dr. Jennifer Russell, acknowledged that fines have been given but said they seem to be "the exception rather than the rule."
"I think it's a balance at this point in time in terms of trying to understand where people are at and what is the most educational and supportive way of getting to where we want to get to," Russell said in an interview.
Karissa Donkin is a journalist in CBC's Atlantic investigative unit. Do you have a story you want us to investigate? Send your tips to NBInvestigates@CBC.ca.
David Amos Methinks the lawyer Michael Bryant as Ontario's former Attorney General must must recall the registered US Mail (signature required) that I sent him and 7 other Attorney Generals in August of 2005. The package included the same CD and a pile of documents that the Attorney General of New Brunswick, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Governor General of Canada and many others had answered in 2004 before I was falsely arrested and imprisoned in the USA after I ran for a seat in the 38th Parliament then sued the Queen 10 very long years later N'esy Pas?
Ray Oliver Reply to @David Amos: I see the other profile is active again and back to it's old circus nesy pas?
David Amos
Reply to @Ray Oliver: Methinks you and your RCMP buddies must know the score N'esy Pas?
David Amos
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Methinks not everybody is enjoying Higgy's Police State N'esy Pas?
Ben Haroldson
Content disabled Reply to @David Amos: Thing is we can't figure out just which group is being singled out by which "police " force.
David Amos
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Reply to @Ben Haroldson: Thats easy Poor folks by all the cops
Ben Haroldson
I'd say see you in court.
David Amos
Reply to @Ben Haroldson: Me Too
Nick Farrell
They would have had a field day at the Petty Raceway last Saturday. Probably 1500 to 2000 people sitting in a Grand Stand for 4 hours. No social Distancing at all.
Ben Haroldson
Reply to @Nick Farrell: In all fairness, I would be in that crowd back in my teens and 20's, 30's, 40's, and sayin IDGAF, just like them. But not in my 60's
David Amos
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Reply to @Nick Farrell: Can you imagine the RCMP trying to chastise 2000 of my fellow Hillbilly folk in my stomping grounds? Furthermore methinks the RCMP in Fundy Royal learned a hard lesson about giving out Higgy's Police State tickets after the circus at Tims in Hampton hit the Rebel News bigtime months ago N'esy Pas?
David Peters The evidence that this virus scare is more political than anything else is mounting.
Tim Biddiscombe
Reply to @David Peters: Tell that to the families of the 8,000 dead Canadians..
Bill Henry
Reply to @David Peters: seriously? 9000 dead in Canada alone. That should scare you.
David Peters
Reply to @Tim Biddiscombe: Take a closer look at those numbers. Others have and have found that they are being fudged. They are citing motor vehicle accidents as covid 19 related deaths. Everything that respiratory related is being blamed on the covid 19 to the point where pneumonia and the flu numbers have moved from significant to zero. Look closer at this, b/c something really stinks about this whole virus scare.
More and more, it looks like there is a major political element to it.
Fred Brewer
Reply to @David Peters: Yes it would look that way if all you look at is fake news.
David Peters
Reply to @Fred Brewer: That's cute, but over-looking the whole police state-ness about this whole virus scare thing is hard to do.
Michel Forgeron
Reply to @David Peters: What? You haven't suggested the police forces should be privatized?
James Smythe
Reply to @Tim Biddiscombe: This is such a silly argument to make, as if nobody in Canada has ever passed away before of something. 80% of them were in long term care homes (50% of whom typically pass within 6 months of being admitted, remaining had other illnesses), another 1000 were in younger cohorts with other health conditions underlying, and a whopping 500 were younger with no underlying conditions. Those are the stats can figures of your super deadly virus. So yes, it’s been politicized, heavily, you’ve just refused to dig any deeper to analyze the extent to which this rings true. We’re literally just renaming mortalities that were already happening, or very likely to happen already.
Fred Brewer
Reply to @David Peters: 17 tickets issued out of 750,000 people and you think this is a police state? Wow.
David Amos
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Reply to @Tim Biddiscombe: "Tell that to the families of the 8,000 dead Canadians"
Methinks the cops should have reminded you that I first brought up the 8,000 dead Canadians and tainted blood issue when I ran in the election of the 38th Parliament while you were peddling blue jeans to snobs in Ottawa N'esy Pas?
David Amos
Reply to @Fred Brewer: "and you think this is a police state?"
i certainly do
Bob Smith
Reply to @David Peters: Who is claiming this? What is their expertise? Cite sources other than personal opinion.
David Amos
Reply to @Bob Smith: Check my work in Federal Court
Fred Brewer
Reply to @Bob Smith: You have to ignore Mr. Peters when he comes up with these bizarre "facts" that apparently come from fake news sites.
Ray Oliver
Reply to @David Amos: Your work is non existent. You're nothing
David Peters
Reply to @Bob Smith: Speaking of facts and figures, there seems to be very little of those being reported by cbc. Where is gov't getting their numbers from, exactly, to make such sweeping changes to our economy?
When you look at the cdc numbers, there is definite fudging going on. Look at their pneumonia and flu deaths during Feb and March. All of a sudden they go to zero in 2020, where normally there are hundreds. It's like they are calling everything respiratory related a covid 19 death.
Also, it would be nice to take a closer look at those numbers that are claiming 8000 or 9000 covid 19 deaths in Canada. Wonder where those stats can be found...
David Peters
Reply to @Michel Forgeron: Not privatized, but audited. Have you looked at what the cost of policing has ballooned to? Imo, with technology like it is, there could be a better, faster and cheaper form a policing, if it were seriously looked at...that includes the judicial end of things as well.
David Amos
Reply to @Ray Oliver: Methinks everybody knows why you and the RCMP falsely claim such things N'esy Pas?
Tim Biddiscombe "There's no evidence that the deterrent of getting a ticket with a fine has any impact on how people behave when it comes to preventing COVID-19, according to Michael Bryant, the executive director of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association."
lol ..ya right.
David Amos
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Reply to @Tim Biddiscombe: Say Hey to your buddies in the Fat Fred City Finest and the RCMP for me will ya?
Fred Brewer Mr. Bryant says "There's no evidence that the deterrent of getting a ticket with a fine has any impact..." Oh really? I would say that only 17 tickets out of a population of 750,000 is pretty strong evidence of the contrary Mr. Bryant.
David Amos
Reply to @Fred Brewer: So you say
Ben Haroldson Anyone that pays a covid fine , especially before going to court, is not thinking straight.
Fred Brewer
Reply to @Ben Haroldson: Perhaps you could do us all a favour... Get a ticket, fight it in court and let us know how it turns out.
Ben Haroldson
Reply to @Fred Brewer: Now that sounds bright, I AM following the rules, I wear a mask, I distance, but if I DID get a ticket , I would fight it in court, because the people issuing them are not qualified to do so.
Fred Brewer
Reply to @Ben Haroldson: Where does one go to school to become "qualified" to issue covid violation tickets?
Johnny Jakobs
Reply to @Fred Brewer: in regina, where you learn to drive horses and harass people with fake laws
Ben Haroldson
Reply to @Fred Brewer: You are a police trained officer
Fred Brewer
Reply to @Ben Haroldson: Your argument that you would win in court because the people handing out tickets are not qualified, is bizarre given that you state that to be qualified you have to be a trained police officer. Did you read the article or even the headline of the article? No? Well here is the headline for you "Police gave out at least 17 fines to people who allegedly broke emergency rules"
David Amos
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Reply to @Ben Haroldson: "You are a police trained officer"
Methinks many would agree that he yaps like a retired dude from Fat Fred City Finest's Foid N'esy Pas?
David Amos
Content disabled Reply to @Ben Haroldson: Higgy knows who Freddy is
David Amos Reply to @Johnny Jakobs: Oh So True
Fred Brewer "It cannot be right that the same police force, the RCMP, is secretive in one province and providing disclosure in the other," Bryant said. On this point, I agree completely with Mr. Bryant. It is shameful that the NB RCMP refuse to disclose even the number of tickets that they have issued.
Ben Haroldson
Reply to @Fred Brewer: The tickets are probably all being issued by unqualified power trippers.
Fred Brewer
Reply to @Ben Haroldson: Can you define for me what you consider to be a "qualified power tripper" then?
David Amos
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Reply to @Fred Brewer: It ain't you Babe
Rene Cusson While I'm sure that the need for extra money in local policing is a sheer coincidence here odds are they are leaving out the number of tickets because they really don't want to explain the community biases involved when giving out the tickets. You dare question their authority? You'll be ticketed for something eventually...
It's like jaywalking...most of the time it's safe and if caught nobody will care, but if you have either a knucklehead who rants to the cop and gives them a hard time, OR you have an cop who just loves messing with certain people (young, poor, "known to police", etc), then that person will be fined out of sheer spite. Fairness has nothing to do with it, thus they are hiding the tickets so they don't have to explain that little fact to anyone: the smaller the community...the larger the biases because they are bored.
The tickets and what they are for are irrelevant here...it's just the small minded cops doing what they always do, just with a new law for them to "interpret"
David Peters
Reply to @Rene Cusson: Wonder how many plainclothes police are walking around now...police state now.
Mary MacKenzie
Reply to @Rene Cusson: Fine revenue goes to the province, not to local policing. That changed several years ago.
Justin Gunther
Reply to @David Peters: The unmarked "police" are all over Fredericton.
David Peters
Reply to @Justin Gunther: Creepy, isn't it?
Lou Bell
Reply to @David Peters: Hundreds Dave ! Keep an eye out ! HA !!!
David Amos
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Reply to @Lou Bell: Methinks everybody in Fat Fred City knows who Higgy's snitches are N'esy Pas?
Justin Gunther Why is Russell giving her opinion on the volume of tickets being issued? Stick to what you know Doc, which is delivering talking points as efficiently as possible.
Lou Bell
Reply to @Justin Gunther: So just ignore the rules put in place ?? Just make the recommendations and wash her hands clean whether they're being followed ? Great thinking there Justie !
David Amos
Reply to @Lou Bell: What rules?
Justin Gunther
After enjoying a brief reprive the BCC is now medoriating as aggressively as ever.
David Amos
Reply to @Justin Gunther: Bigtime
Lou Bell I'd like to know what happened with the 4 people who forced an adventure company to shut down in Oromocto over the weekend by giving false info when screened ! According to a story in the daily Glener , these people were from outside the 4 province bubble area ! Please CBC , check it out . This is quite disturbing for most NB'ers !
David Amos
Reply to @Lou Bell: Who cares besides you and Higgy?
Wayne Mac Arthur Michael Bryant could be hired to write up a new set of laws,you know the right ones.Possibly we could cross bank robbery off the list as there are repeat offenders,the penalty seems to do little to curb the activity. As I see it the problem is being too lenient when dishing out the fines.
David Amos
Reply to @Wayne Mac Arthur: Dream on
Brad Miller lmao..how does nobody realize..you can't fine or discriminate in our country over a disease..if I am wrong..then we can now fire drunks from work with prejudice ..cant wait for the law suits to begin
David Amos
Reply to @Brad Miller: Good Point
Gary Thompson Reply to @Brad Miller: you might have cut to the point and just said you should be allowed to sleep with whoever you please without requiring to disclose you have aids.
