Two pawn shops are the first London, Ont., businesses to face charges after breaching provincial orders for all non-essential businesses to close in order to slow the spread of COVID-19.
The city says the two businesses, which were not named publicly, were each issued a provincial offence notice by the city’s bylaw office on Monday afternoon.
“They both were just fined $750 (plus the victim surcharge),” chief bylaw officer Orest Katolyk told Global News.
“Pawn shops are clearly not an essential service at this time. Nobody really should be going to pawn shops or purchase something used.”
The fines and other potential penalties are set out under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act. Failure to comply with an emergency order could also result in as much as one year behind bars or a fine up to $100,000 for an individual, $500,000 for a director of a corporation, or $10,000,000 for a corporation itself if a bylaw officer issues a summons.
“We know this is a difficult time for everyone, and that includes businesses in our community,” Katolyk said.
“However these orders cannot be taken lightly. We need everyone to be doing everything they can to stop this virus from spreading.”
The charges against the two businesses follow a busy weekend for bylaw officers that saw 21 individuals fined. Including the victim surcharge, the total bill comes to $880 for those violating COVID-19 orders under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act.
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