While the COVID-19 pandemic has raged on for the past year, on a local level, the role of bylaw enforcement has shifted and become more critical as restrictions and lockdowns came into effect.
JP Maurice, manager of bylaw enforcement for the City of Brampton, Ont., told Yahoo Canada the most challenging aspect of bylaw enforcement has been understanding the Ontario government’s legislation.
“I think initially, it was new to all of us and having to understand the legislation because for our officers, it was a role and a responsibility that we were not accustomed to do, it’s not our core function,” Maurice explained. “We had to read the regulations to understand them, and then pass it on to our staff for them to then engage in the enforcement.”
“So that was a challenge right through the pandemic because there [were] constant changes… I was getting calls, I would say probably towards November, December, a lot of calls from businesses, ‘am I allowed to open if I do A and B and C.’…
