© THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl DyckA resident, centre, in an upper floor condo is silhouetted as people have been urged to stay home to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, in Vancouver, on Monday, March 23, 2020.
The city implemented a bylaw in August that requires everyone to wear masks while inside lobbies, elevators, laundry rooms and other shared spaces of condo and apartment buildings in order to stop the spread of COVID-19.
Andrea Gonsalves, a spokesperson for the city, said that since the bylaw came into affect, the city has received 1,950 complaints to 311 about violations.
She said that despite the large number of complaints, the city's hands are tied from really cracking down on the issue.
"Under the provincial regulation, there is no provision to charge an individual for not wearing a mask in a condo or apartment building," Gonsalves said on Monday.
"Provincial regulations would have to write in wording that would allow local municipalities, who do their own bylaw enforcement as we do in Toronto, to indicate what is enforceable and what isn't."
Gonsalves said that currently the city is only able to charge residential building owners who are not following the city's guidelines for signage, education and masking policy.
"When the city receives a complaint, the RentSafeTO team provides an advisement to the building owner as to the requirement of law including masking policy, proper signage, education," Gonsalves said.
"In all cases they've complied. We have not had to charge a building manager for not posting the signage. That's what's enforceable."
CTV News Toronto reached out to the Ontario government about the issue on Monday morning, but has not yet received a response.
Reader Comments
mid july '99 a colleague was on vacation and i drew the short straw, got sent to miami for a few weeks to provide eng. assistance to the yank startup. hot ? humid ? holy mother of christ. other than skiing in vermont i'd never been south... geezez.
funny glances and smiles from the locals playing "spot the canadian" at the beach, must be a popular past time. i don't tan, i go from 100% ultra reflective iridium blinding bright white to holy mother of crispy red lobster in about an hour of beach time, and that's when i'm neck deep in the water...it's even faster on sunny days too.
must have pissed off someone in management as i got sent back to miami again, late november of that year. apparently it was a "cold" day in miami, 15 C (59 F). arrived at the customer's site with greetings from five people, wearing long sleeve shirts and sweaters, one was wearing a coat ... ohh yeahh - awkward stared silence - observed like a window display mannequin wearing chinos and the thinnest polo shirt i owned - my first thought: i was flying low, nope, ok there... ahhh, it was 8am and i was already a ball of perspiring freshness... side note: when in doubt, bring a spare polo shirt or four, preferably the same funky corporate coloured as the sweat stained one you're changing.
here's a tip to my southern neighbors. if you meet a born and bred real life canadian, that's 10 shades whiter than your office white photo copier paper ... and you ask the canadian if he/she has been to Toronto, and the canadian smiles and nods... and you continue the conversation with him/her, mentioning that your cousin's neighbor's wife's boss's step twin's sister's nefew lives in Toronto, his name is Peter - and, with a huge smile of expectation ask: do you know him ? the canadian will, 9.9 times out of 10, smile and reply with: why yes, i think i have met Peter last time i was in Toronto. the truth of the matter is: no, we have not met Peter, we're just too nice to hurt anyone's feelings and we fib to avoid the obviousness of the situation. Most likely, if you're talking to a rural canadian, that is, anyone living a good few hour drive from a city... they will encourage you to visit canada, and stay away from Toronto. (not that there's anything wrong with TO... it's just...ummm...it's just there's more and prettier sites to visit in canada )
To my fellow canadians in TO, tell Peter i said hello.
bye for now, gotta go to the feed & seed shop... yes, will be warming the globe on my way there too... not to worry, i'll help out any stuck Prius's in snowbanks. (that's what the big plow blade on the front of a 3/4 ton is for, ha).
OTOH, I heard of Norwegians who walk around in t-shirts as soon as as it gets above the freezing point ...
In 1998, I had been in Rochester/NY for a training course, and almost visited Canada. Just stood on the wrong side of the Niagara Falls ...
Right now it's considered 'cold'; it got down to 46F last night! right now it's 67, high expected of 70. I LOVE cold weather. Right now, the temperature in my house is ~ 58? and this will likely be at least the third winter in a row that I've not used the heater.
RC
nah, you were on the right side... on the wrong side of the falls you'd be bobbing like a cork, lol
Though the article's supposedly about only reprogramming Trump voters, it likewise deals with the above mentality - AA/DS today RC