MONTREAL -- The grace period in Cote Saint-Luc’s mask policy is now over, people are learning.
Fines start at $100 but can go up with repeat offences to $500.
People can also be asked to leave properties if they’re not wearing a mask, as some people recently discovered when they were kicked out of the Cavendish Mall.
Business owners say they don’t want to have to play mask police, but Cote-Saint-Luc Mayor Mitchell Brownstein says that’s not how it’ll work—business owners will not be held responsible for their customers’ behaviour.
"If [police] go to the business and they see some people not wearing a mask, the business owner will not receive a fine,” Brownstein explained.
“He'll only receive a fine if he’s not following the program, meaning he didn’t put out the sign the city has given, he doesn't have a place to wash your hands, and he’s not telling people to wear masks.”
A city inspector will also spend the next month going to local apartment buildings. The city can’t enforce mask-wearing in them, but it is mandatory to have signs up.
But most people interviewed by CTV News said they weren’t finding it a difficult adjustment, and even those told to leave Cavendish Mall said they accepted the logic behind it.
“I mean, it's part of the rules, so it's fine,” one person said.
