Legault: We can't put a police officer in every home in Quebec

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Backing himself up with hefty new fines as high as $6,000 for not wearing masks, Premier François Legault has appealed to Quebecers’ sense of civic responsibility to ensure there is no second wave of Covid-19.

Emerging from a closed-door Coalition Avenir Québec caucus meeting Friday, Legault said in general he is pleased with where the province stands six months into the pandemic. The situation in schools is under control and there has not been a resurgence of cases in seniors’ residences. Gradually, the economy is coming back to life with Quebec’s unemployment rate going down.

But he warned keeping the situation under control is a shared responsibility that belongs to all Quebecers. The only way to get back to a normal life and relaunch the economy is to take control of the pandemic.

He said, The government cannot do everything. I absolutely need the cooperation of the population.

He homed in on what has emerged as a weakness in the government’s pandemic containment strategy: people choosing to flaunt the rules by gathering in illegal numbers in their homes and restaurants for parties. Such incidents explain most of the new cases experienced in Quebec.

Legault said, we can put in place all the measures … all the fines and regulations you can think of but in the final analysis, we need we need the cooperation of all Quebecers. We know a great number of the transmissions are happening in people’s residences. There are more homes than police (in Quebec). We don’t want to go into the private lives of Quebecers. We can’t put a police officer in each home in Quebec.

And Quebec is ready to play hardball. As announced Thursday, Public Security Minister Geneviève Guilbault revealed cabinet has authorized police to slap big fines on Quebecers who who refuse to wear masks while in public indoor areas likes stores or public transit. Guilbault said scofflaw fines have been set at between $400 and $6,000. Police will start issuing the tickets Saturday.