Winnipeg burger joint could be fined up to $1M for repeatedly breaking COVID-19 rules

A Winnipeg burger restaurantthat has repeatedly broken public health ordersis facing a new fine that could go as high as $1 million.

Monstrosity Burger on Corydon Avenue isfacing an "information laid" charge for repeated offences under the Public Health Act.

The charge was laid in the week of Jan. 3 to 9, but was announced in a news release on Wednesday.

The province says the courts will determine the fine amount, but it could be as high as $1 million.

Monstrosity Burger has been ticketed numerous times over the course of the pandemic. In one month alone, the business received eight $5,000 fines for breaking public health rules.

CBC Newsreached out to the operators of Monstrosity Burger, who declined to comment.

A total of 31 warnings and 33 tickets were issued for the week, the bulk of which were $298 finesissued to people for failing to wear a mask in public.

Church in RM of Hanover also faced fine

Monstrosity Burger isn't the onlybusiness in Manitoba to face the possibly hefty fine.

Last year, Church of God Restoration in the rural municipality of Hanover, which is notorious for repeatedly holding in-person services in defiance of public health orders, also faced an "information laid" charge.

The finewas issued between May 31 and June 6 of 2021.

Church of God Restoration was one of seven rural Manitoba churches and three individuals who brought the province to court over public health rules. They argued the orders, which at one pointprohibited gatherings and in-person services at places of worship, infringedon theircharterfreedoms of conscience, religion, expression and peaceful assembly.

In October,Court of Queen's Bench Chief Justice Glenn Joyal said he found that the public health orders were reasonable limitations on the group's charter rights in the context of the pandemic, and that Manitoba's chief public health officer did have the authority to execute them.