A family returning home to Montreal from New Brunswick is claiming that their coronavirus curfew tickets were handed down unfairly.
The family was ticketed $3,100 for violating Quebec’s latest curfew rules.
Under the new lockdown restrictions, citizens of the province found outside their home between 8:00pm and 5:00am can face hefty fines.
“Thirty one hundred dollars is not peanuts when you have three children,” said Melissa Calhoun.
According to Calhoun, the family had been in New Brunswick since December to take care of an elderly relative.
“He’s 77 years old. He was in the hospital for a bit and he lives alone. He didn’t have anyone to take care of him,” said Calhoun about her father.
Although the family was intending to return before the new curfew was implemented, car troubles delayed their trip home.
“I have three kids, so you can’t account for time. There are kids that are going to cry and scream and their necks hurt and they need to use the bathroom and they’re hungry and they have to do diaper changes, things like that,” said Calhoun.
“I understand the curfew. I understand the rules. We weren’t contesting that. However, we felt like we would fall into the exemption category. We weren’t stopping. We didn’t stop at any stores any time after 8:00pm. We didn’t even get gas.”
Despite their efforts to follow the laws, police pulled the family over at 10:00pm and handed them two tickets worth $1,550.
