Ford condemns large crowds in Wasaga Beach: ‘I hope everyone gets a $10K fine’

Premier Doug Ford criticized hundreds of people that congregated to Wasaga Beach for a car rally over the weekend, eventually forcing the tourist hot-spot to close to non-residents.

Ford, who was informed gatherers were prepared to pay at least $2,000 worth of fines if it came to it, accused the gatherers of being inconsiderate not only to their loved ones, but to residents, as well.

“I really wish I could get a hold of their grandparents, their parents or a family member,” Ford said.

“They go home and tell them how proud they are that they broke the regulations and guidelines. I just couldn’t believe what I was seeing. It’s reckless behaviour that shouldn’t be tolerated by any of us.”

“Who wants to hurt their own family? Who wants to hurt their grandparents? Maybe these guys do. We have the largest fines in the country and I hope every one of them get hit with a 10,000 fine, I really do,” The Premier added.

Police have issued nearly 200 tickets related to the gathering that violated COVID-19 safety protocols.

OPP says 11 tickets were issued for violating the Reopening Ontario Act. OPP also say they issued 172 tickets for things like speeding, dangerous driving, not wearing a seatbelt, and careless driving.

Investigators said the event is believed to have been related to a larger car rally in the United States.

Police officers from Peel and York regions were in Wasaga Beach this weekend to help contain the situation.

On Monday, the OPP provided an update on the circumstances saying some of the gatherers were taunting officers.

This comes just over a week after large crowds gathered in a parking lot in Ancaster.

At the time, officers found a large group of people on-hand when they arrived, and the crowd grew steadily until it filled the parking lots of a local movie theatre and book store.