MONTREAL -- Police on Montreal's South Shore city of Chateauguay will be manning roadblocks during the curfew this weekend to make sure only people deemed essential are on the road between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m.
Five officers were on the corner of Francis Blvd. and Saint Jean Baptiste Blvd. just west of the Chateauguay-Kahnawake border from Thursday at 8 p.m. to Friday at 5 a.m. stopping vehicles and checking their documents.
Officer Jean-Francois Meloche said officers will be set up in a different location Friday night, and a third location Saturday night.
"We want to show the population that we're taking this very seriously and the Chateauguay Police are intending on respecting the rules that the government implemented for the COVID-19," said Meloche.
Meloche said few $1,500 fines have been handed out, and the drivers that have been pulled over are happy police are enforcing the rules.
"Honestly, it's been a positive response from the citizens," he said. "People that are circulating around 9 o'clock or after 8 o'clock are people that are coming back-and-forth from work, and the community is responding positively to the curfew. We seldom give fines for that."
Chateauguay police have stopped more than 1,400 vehicles since the curfew began on Jan. 9, and only given out around 50 tickets for non-compliance.
Chateauguay is in Quebec's Monteregie region and currently in the red zone.
Montreal police have no plans to set up roadblocks or checkpoints on the island.
The SPVM said in an email that the force "will continue its work this weekend and will deploy the staff necessary for the rigorous application of the decree in force."
