‘There is a list of names’: Kingston mayor says partygoers could be named shortly

Kingston’s mayor says the city is parsing through a list of names for those newly charged under his recent emergency order, which is meant to name and shame those taking part in “aggravated nuisance parties.”

“An aggravated nuisance party is something that not only breaks the city’s nuisance party bylaw, but also contravenes the Reopening Ontario Act, which is basically a gathering of, say, above 100 people outside or above 25 inside,” Mayor Bryan Paterson said in an interview Tuesday.

Over the weekend, Kingston police and bylaw enforcement laid a total of 140 fines and charges, and declared seven aggravated nuisance parties.

Despite these violations, the city has yet to name anyone fined.

Paterson said those names will be forthcoming.

“There is a list of names right now. Those names are just being vetted to make sure, for example, that individuals are above 18. Once that information is ready, it will be disclosed upon request,” he said.

This comes after Paterson implemented the order Friday giving city officials the ability to hand out increased fines to those attending gatherings deemed both a nuisance and that exceed the province’s gathering limits, and also name those charged at those events.

On Friday, it was communicated then that those charged under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act, the Reopening Ontario Act, the Emergency Orders bylaw, the Nuisance Party bylaw and the Noise bylaw could be named.

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Tuesday, the city clarified that only infractions handed out at a declared aggravated nuisance party would be named.

“Standalone breaches of the noise bylaw or nuisance party bylaw, where there has been no violation of the provincial social gathering limits, will not be disclosed,” the city said Tuesday.

The move was meant to curb large street gatherings taking place in the University District, which the local health unit said have been a contributing factor to rising case counts.

There are currently 41 active cases of COVID-19 in the region.