Kingston Police lay charges at William Street party

Kingston Police have issued a Reopening Ontario Act notice after a party of 30 to 40 people took place in the University District late last week.

According to Const. Ash Gutheinz, Media Relations Officer for Kingston Police, police responded to the gathering at approximately 12:35 on Thursday, Oct. 3, 2020. There, 30 to 40 people were gathered in the back yard of the William Street property, in contravention of the Reopening Ontario Act (ROA), which currently limits the number of people allowed to gather during the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Gutheinz, one of those attending the party received a ROA notice under section 10(1)(a). This notice, which indicated the party-goer was failing to comply with the ROA, came with an $880 fine. Gutheinz could not confirm if anyone else at the gathering was fined as a result of the violation.

This comes at the end of a week which saw the number of cases of COVID-19 at Queen’s University rise steadily throughout the week, as well as a week with much discussion surrounding the issues of parties or gatherings in the University District. No new cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the Queen’s community so far this week.

It also came after Dr. Kieran Moore, Medical Officer of Health for KFL&A Public Health spoke of the importance of avoiding such parties as the area tries to flatten the curve of new cases of the virus in the region. Moore had already expressed disappointment with the number of young people gathering and demonstrating high-risk behaviour during the current pandemic in early September 2020.

Kingstonist will update this article if more information becomes available.