Earlier this morning on April 1, 2020, Mayor Patrick Brown
took to Facebook Live to make a special announcement regarding rent relief for
the City of Brampton amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
The Mayor began the announcement by
emphasizing the importance of physical distancing and stressed the fact that
there will be serious consequences for those who do not comply.
“Last night, a call came in to 3-1-1
about a backyard party of 20 people who have shown complete disregard for the
physical distancing requirements of public health,” said Brown.
“This is why we have fines. If
someone is going to be reckless with their community, causing it to spread,
endangering the lives of neighbours, family and loved ones, there’s going to
be consequences.”
This statement follows yesterday’s
signing of the Brampton COVID-19 Emergency Measures By-law by the Mayor to
help protect the health and safety of the city's residents.
Brown continued to state that with
the assistance of Peel Police, they laid their first fine last night which
would not be the minimum fine of $750, but instead, would be taken
to court.
“It will be up to the Justice
of the Peace to decide and it can be as high as $100,000,” he said, adding that
they are not taking this lightly and further stressed that there will be
serious consequences for endangering the community.
“This is too serious for anyone to
be reckless and foolish.”
In terms of rent relief, the Mayor
stated that the city has looked for areas in which they can help those that are
struggling due to the financial burden caused by the
COVID-19 outbreak.
“Due to these unprecedented times,
we have businesses, small business and non-for-profits have been hit with an
economic tidal wave that risks putting their business out of business,”
said Brown.
“Today, I am pleased to announce
that the city will defer rent payments for non-for-profits and small for-profit
tenants for a period of three months.”
Additionally, Brown stated that the
city will also waive payments for non-for-profits in order to show compassion
and understanding.
“They take on integral services for
the community and we want them to know that the city has their back,”
he said.
Brown also said that he has written
a letter to the province to ask for a provincial rent
relief program.
The City is committed to keeping Brampton
residents informed and will continue to provide updates on the City’s response
to COVID-19 as they become available.
For more information on the above
decisions and the City’s efforts to support the community in response
to COVID-19, visit www.brampton.ca/COVID19.