Communal living no excuse for large gathering, says P.E.I. judge

A man who testified he's among 20 people who live communally in a Charlottetown apartment building has been fined for violating a public health order related to COVID-19.

The man testified in provincial court Monday that the occupants of the four units in the building on St. Peter's Road are "like family" and had been cooking and eating communally in his apartment throughout most of the pandemic.

"I can show you my electricity bill. It's higher than the other apartments because we do all the cooking there," the man told court.

He also testified the 20 people who live in the four units purchase groceries communally, and thus constitute a single household under public health regulations.

The man was ticketed after Charlottetown police were called to the building on March 21, having received a report of a large gathering. A police officer testified Monday he could clearly see a crowd of people inside Unit 3 of the apartment building on the day in question.

The man pleaded not guilty to the ticket and represented himself without the help of a defence lawyer. In addition to testifying himself, he called one witness in his defence: his landlord.

Landlord rents to'friends and family'

"I rent only to friends and family," the landlord testified. He testified the seven cars that police saw parked outside the building belonged to his tenants.

Under cross-examination by Crown prosecutor John Diamond, the landlord testified he and his wife also attended the dinner in the man's apartment on March 21.

"So that makes 22 people," Diamond told court.

Testifying in his own defence, the man told court that "seven or eight" of the 20 people had jobs outside the building. The others were either working from home, or had lost their jobs due to COVID-19.

Five of the 20 people slept in his two-bedroom unit in the building.

"We are like family. We use just one kitchen," he testified.

Judge raises fine to $2,500

Judge Nancy Orr rejected the man's defence and found him guilty of violating the public health order that restricts private gatherings to no more than 10 people, on top of those in the immediate household.

"Anybody over the age of two knows there's a world-wide pandemic going on," Orr told the man. "Getting together for supper does not mean you're one household."

Anybody over the age of two knows there's a world-wide pandemic going on.Getting together for supper does not mean you're one household.- Judge Nancy Orr

The judge told the man that the people working outside the building could easily have brought the virus into their building and made everyone sick.

The Crown prosecutor asked the judge to impose a $1,000 fine.

"That's only the minimum," Orr replied. "You don't want more?"

The judge then upped the man's $1,000 ticket to $2,500.

She accepted the man's request that he be allowed one week to pay the money, adding:"Credit and debit card accepted."

Diamond later told CBCNews that he knows of 11 cases so far in which people have gone to court to fight tickets issued for breaches of COVID-19 public health rules.

None of them has been successful, he said. Five more such trials are pending.

More from CBC P.E.I.