Inaccurate information on the City of Moose Jaw’s website about pandemic restrictions prompted James Stokes to throw a Halloween party with almost double the number of people allowed inside attending.
Moose Jaw police were dispatched to a home on Oct. 31, 2020, around 9:49 p.m. after receiving a tip about the gathering, Crown prosecutor Stephen Yusuff said while discussing the facts in provincial court recently. Officers counted 23 people in the home, which violated the existing public health order that allowed only 15 people to gather inside.
Stokes, 41 made some effort to determine the limit of how many people could be there and thought he was under that number, but the problem was, he consulted the city’s website instead of the provincial government website, Yusuff continued.
While the fine for disobeying pandemic-related public health orders is $2,800, he added, the Crown decided to lower the penalty to $1,500 after both parties came to an agreement and Stokes agreed to plead guilty to violating a public health order.
The provincial government website will always take precedent over the municipal website for this type of information, Judge Daryl Rayner said. At that time, the province only allowed 15 people inside a dwelling, whereas the city’s website said 30 people could be allowed.
“I contacted the city and said their website was out of date,” Stokes said. “They fixed it. Hopefully, no one else experiences this.”
Charges dropped in second case
A 16-year-old from Moose Jaw also appeared in court on the same day as Stokes after being charged with a similar offence. However, the Crown dropped the charges against the young woman.
In a separate interview, Crown prosecutor Rob Parker explained her charges were not connected to those of Stokes since hers occurred on Nov. 1. Furthermore, the Crown declined to pursue the charges against the teen since there was insufficient evidence.
“Basically, after looking at it, there was no reasonable likelihood of obtaining a conviction,” he said.
The Moose Jaw Police Service has handed out 157 tickets for violations of public health orders since March 2020. According to Parker, these are the first pandemic-related offences in Moose Jaw to be resolved.
Moose Jaw provincial court next meets on May 18.
The Provincial Court section holds articles that have been written without prejudice with the information that has been presented in a public court of appeal available to the media and public.
