Majority of COVID-19-related tickets issued in Saskatchewan remain unaddressed

Saskatchewan has made little progress on working through its backlog of COVID-19 tickets. 

Data provided by the provincial government shows that 66 per cent of the 407 tickets issued under the Public Health Act or the Emergency Planning Act as of July 31 are classified as pending. 

Pending means those tickets are waiting to be heard by a court or for a resolution to be reached. 

The new data released by the province emphasizes the lengthy process of issuing tickets and processing them. 

The percentage of tickets considered to be pending hasn't changed from previous data that covered a period up to the end of June. However, 142 additional tickets were issued during the month of July. That's more than a third of all tickets issued throughout the pandemic. 

The sudden increase in tickets is especially interesting because one of the pieces of legislation that the province was issuing COVID-19-related tickets under was lifted part way through the month, on July 11. 

The provincial government did not respond to a request to explain the large increase in tickets.

Fines

People who violate the rules under the Public Health Act or the Emergency Planning Act can still face a maximum ticket of $2,000, while corporations can be ticketed a maximum of $10,000.

Each ticket may also include a 40 per cent victim surcharge.

Courts can decide the fine amount for violating the Emergency Planning Act — up to $75,000 for individuals or $100,000 for business — or the Public Health Act — $7,500 for individuals or $100,00 — depending on which act the charges were laid under.

Once again, each fine can also include a 40 per cent victim surcharge.

Convictions and tickets withdrawn 

Of the 407 tickets issued, there have been 77 convictions. 

That's 29 more than were reported at the end of June. 

Fines associated to nine charges have been fully collected and two have been partially collected. That remains unchanged from previous data. 

According to the province, if people pay their charges more than 15 days after the due date they will face an additional $60 late charge.

If the fine remains unpaid 90 days past its due date, the Ministry of Justice sends it to a collection agency, the Canada Revenue Agency, or both.

Further enforcement can include garnishing of wages, seizure of personal property, suspension of a person's driver's licence and, in extreme cases, possible incarceration. 

The number of tickets that have been withdrawn or nullified, or where jurisdiction was lost, has once again jumped. The province added 20 more tickets to that classification, which now totals 62.

The province said jurisdiction is lost when a case can't proceed because of specific circumstances outside the accused's control.

The province told CBC News last month that a few tickets had been withdrawn at the beginning of the pandemic "due to a combination of exceptional circumstances." 

However it said that situation was unlikely to continue in the future.