Inspectors find one-third of big box stores violating COVID rules in GTA and Hamilton

Ontario safety inspectors performed an inspection blitz across the Greater Toronto Area and Hamilton on Saturday, finding nearly one third of all stores in violation of pandemic safety rules, CP24 reports.

Inspectors visited 110 stores over the course of the day, finding 31 of them to be in violation of health protocols. The stores in question were not named.

Despite these violations, only 11 warnings and 11 tickets were issued over health violations, with five locations being fined. The rest of the locations appear to have gotten off scot-free, despite being found in violation of coronavirus rules.

According to Ontario Labour Minister Monte McNaughton, the inspections were done to ensure compliance with social distancing and masking rules. Such inspectors are vested with the authority to shut down locations in violation of pandemic rules and to break up crowds of more than five people.

The government ultimately inspected 240 stores across the province, with 75 being found to be in violation of pandemic rules.

The cross-province raids raise further questions about the Ontario government's preferential treatment of big box stores over small businesses. Many small business owners expressed outrage when the government forced them to close their doors to customers to help reduce the spread of coronavirus when many of them had bent over backwards to comply with coronavirus rules.

Small businesses are still allowed to offer roadside pickup, but unlike big box stores such as Walmart, they are prohibited from allowing customers to browse their stores in person.

Yet despite businesses which complied with coronavirus rules being shut down for being too small, big box stores get to continue operating despite disregarding the government's regulations. A few of them did not even receive so much as a warning for their violations.

Over 25,000 private businesses in Ontario have permanently closed since the beginning of the pandemic as Premier Doug Ford's government continues to escalate restrictions on the daily lives of Ontarians.

The Ford government initially announced a province-wide lockdown shortly before Christmas, a measure which began enforcement on Boxing Day. As cases continued to rise afterwards, Ford instituted a stay-at-home order, which prohibits Ontarians from leaving their homes for non-essential purposes.

The Ford government initially considered a mandatory curfew similar to the one instituted in Quebec, but ultimately decided not to.

The measures undertaken by the Ford government have received both praise and criticism. Supporters of the measures say they are necessary to prevent the spread of the deadly disease, whereas detractors argue that the measures are highly restrictive of freedom, destructive to businesses, and fail to curb the spread of the virus.