NRP investigating New Year’s party bus heading to Niagara Falls from GTA
The Niagara Regional Police are working with Greater Toronto Area police services to stop a planned New Year's Eve chartered party bus from coming to Niagara Falls.
The local police service posted a Tweet Thursday morning urging people to stay home rather than come to Niagara Falls to celebrate the end of 2020 and that officers were investigating the party bus event. The bus is scheduled to make stops in Toronto, North York, Scarborough, Brampton, Mississauga and other communities before arriving in Niagara Falls.
We are investigating. This is not in accordance with #COVID19 regulations. #StayHome #StaySafe," says the tweet.
I should caveat this by saying under most circumstances we do not discuss any details of an ongoing investigation, and this is an ongoing investigation," said NRP spokesman Const. Phil Gavin. But in this case we wanted to draw people's attention to this. And if there is another charter bus out there planning to do this, they may think twice about it now."
The bus event comes as the province remains in a pandemic lockdown, which started on Dec. 26, in a bid to bring the escalating COVID-19 infection rate under control.
In Niagara, the pandemic dam has broken with several days this week setting new records for new daily infections, deaths and outbreaks. Local hospitalizations are at a pandemic record high and the region's acting medical officer of health says there will likely be another surge in cases as a result of Christmas gatherings.
As of Thursday, at least 3,951 local people have been infected by the novel coronavirus. At least 142 Niagara residents with COVID-19 have died since the first local case was identified in March - 77 of those people have died since Oct. 5 when the second pandemic wave began to gain steam.
The provincial government and public health authorities have been urging people to keep holiday gatherings small, limited to their households. Non-essential businesses are closed, including almost all of the attractions in the Niagara Falls tourist district which typically attract New Year's Eve revellers. The casinos are closed, the Festival of Lights is shuttered and restaurants are open for take-out only.
Gavin said the NRP is working with GTA police services to investigate the party bus and said if the event goes ahead, officers will not hesitate to fine the company or party-goers under the Reopening Ontario Act, the provincial legislation under which COVID-19 restrictions are ordered. Under the act, fines of to up to $500,000 can be handed out to violators.
In addition to the party bus investigation, Gavin said officers will be out in force across Niagara both to handle the typical New Year's issues of impaired driving and other bad behaviour and to enforce COVID-19 laws.
Several hotels, which remain open during the lockdown, have hired off-duty NRP officers to be stationed in their buildings to ensure COVID-19 rules are followed, he said.
If you are booking a room under your name, and we knock on the door and find 30 in there, it is not going to be hard to figure out who the organizers of that event is," Gavin said. If it comes to it, we will engage in enforcement."
While police try to prevent Niagara Falls from becoming party central and risk even more COVID-19 infections, some local hotels are actively promoting their facilities as a place to celebrate the end of the year.
The Four Points by Sheraton in Niagara Falls, for example, promoted a New Year's Eve package on its website and Twitter account Thursday. When asked about the promotion during a lockdown on Twitter, the hotel blocked the reporter who posted the question.
Calls to the hotel were not immediately returned Thursday.
Grant LaFleche is a St. Catharines-based investigative reporter with the Standard. Reach him via email: grant.lafleche@niagaradailies.com