No one in Ottawa received a ticket on Canada Day for violating rules surrounding gatherings limits or physical distancing, even as police had to get involved to break up large crowds celebrating at Mooney’s Bay.
The Ottawa Police Service (OPS) issued a statement late Wednesday saying that a “large gathering” at Mooney’s Bay was causing “disorder issues and health concerns.”
As a result, the city asked for the site to be closed down and police began asking residents to leave the area.
Ottawa police spokesperson Amy Gagnon told Global News that no arrests were made and no tickets were issued as the crowd dispersed.
While neither the city nor the OPS would provide an estimate on the crowd size, some reports online estimated thousands of people were on the beach Wednesday night.
Some people were setting off fireworks on the site amid a sweeping cancellation of public Canada Day events across the city due to restrictions surrounding the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Jennifer Therkelsen, Ottawa’s acting director of bylaw and regulatory services, told Global News in a statement Thursday that there were no tickets issued in Ottawa on Canada Day related to any violations of Ontario’s emergency orders related to the pandemic.
She did note that Ottawa bylaw officers gave out “dozens of warnings” to people consuming alcohol in parks or smoking or barbecuing in prohibited areas.