An Oakville parent who took his children out tobogganing to his neighbourhood park on a sunny Saturday afternoon was dismayed to find his family being shooed off the hill at Old Abbey Park by a Town of Oakville bylaw officer and Halton Regional Police officer.
Charbel Cheaib posted a video to his Facebook showing a charged conversation he had January 30. The video has since generated 10,000 views and more than 400 comments, with many commenters expressing support for the police, while many others sympathize with Cheaib.
“Officer, you’re making the kids cry,” Cheaib can be heard telling the unnamed officer. “It’s really unbelievable that you guys are here telling us what to do… that we’re outdoors and we’re not supposed to be here.”
Cheaib asks for the officer’s badge number, and another parent can be heard arguing with the officer that tobogganing is allowed, while the officer indicates he is enforcing the Ontario provincial order prohibiting groups of more than five. “You can not congregate like this,” says the officer, who identifies himself as the duty supervisor.
According to a Government of Ontario website the January 12 stay-at-home order allows up to five people to gather together outside. While tobogganing and other outdoor physical activities are allowed under the order, people are required to maintain a two-metre physical distance from one other and are now advised to wear a mask or face covering even outdoors. There appears to be some uncertainty about what constitutes a gathering.
In a phone conversation Cheaib disputes the idea that families taking their kids tobogganing were gathering in groups of more than five. He says he was at the hill with three other members of his own household. “If this is what the police are calling a gathering, then so is the lineup at LCBO and Costco. I’m calling it outdoor socially distanced exercise.”
Cheaib says his family had arrived at the hill about 15 minutes before bylaw and HRPS arrived around 4 p.m. “What happened before I started filming was the officer was threatening everybody with fines,” Cheaib says. “I think that’s wrong. Why am I being threatening on the hill when we haven’t done anything illegal?”
He says his eight-year-old daughter was startled by the uniformed officers yelling at kids that they were to finish their last run. When Cheiab intervened, "I was threatened with the 'full extent of the law,' and that's a quote."
“The whole thing was frightening (to her) especially when I started speaking to the officer, she thought I was going to get arrested. I’ve always taught my children to respect law enforcement. Now they’re afraid of the police.”
By Cheaib’s estimate there were between 50 and 100 at the park. “From the street, it looked bad because there were a lot of cars parked, so I could see why neighbours would call the police. But on the hill, even if it was a hundred people, there was lots of space -- it was very distanced. We definitely weren’t shoulder to shoulder.”
Lynn Lau
Old Abbey Lane Park
The slopes at Old Abbey Lane Park are popular with tobogganers when there's snow
In an emailed statement, HRPS Media Relations Officer Constable Ryan Anderson says the officers attended the hill Saturday in response to a complaint of overcrowding.
"Upon arrival, we found approximately 65-70 vehicles parked on the road in addition to ~20 vehicles parked in the school parking lot, and there were ~100 people tobogganing on the hill. The density of adults and children tobogganing translated into a lack of physical distancing. For this reason, we took an educational approach to ask people to disperse, in alignment with the recommendations that accompanied the Rules for Areas in Stage 1 under the Reopening Ontario Act. No tickets were issued, and the crowd dispersed peacefully.
"The overwhelming majority of our residents are heeding public health recommendations to stay at home, and when out, they are maintaining physical distancing. We’re confident that this will continue, but we will work with our by-law enforcement partners to provide education where we see physical distancing not being maintained. We understand that the legislation allows for families to venture outside for fresh air and exercise, so long as physical distancing can be maintained and individuals are not gathering in groups of more than five."
