14 people charged for attending house party in Brampton

Bylaw officials in Brampton have charged 14 people for allegedly breaking Ontario's stay-at-home order and attending an illegal house party.

The city says staff received reports of loud noises and an illegal social gathering taking place at a home on Echoridge Drive on Monday, and that officials later arrived to find 14 people partying inside.

A clear violation of the Reopening Ontario Act, which currently prohibits all indoor gatherings in the province, the party resulted in each individual receiving a fine of $880.

The gathering was also in violation of Ontario's current stay-at-home order, which states that people must remain at home unless venturing out for essential reasons.

"There's no excuse right now for having social events indoors," Brampton Mayor Patrick Broad said during a city press conference Wednesday. "That is why we have significant fines for people that are breaching that provincial emergency regulation."

This girl I know is having a party tonight. She’s been openly posting about it on IG. And I know for a fact she lives in a brampton hot zone because she’s just up the road from my parents’ house. It’s not the first party she’s thrown during lockdown. Ugh some people. 😡

— Formerly known as HRH Meghan (@MeghanMacc) April 11, 2021

Brampton's director of bylaw enforcement, Paul Morrison, said Wednesday that this is far from the only illegal indoor gathering that has been reported throughout the city.

"The house party we did attend was in fact, as I say, a house party, and there are people that are still having these events throughout the city and they're not prevalent, but they're certainly in different areas," he said, adding that the city laid 49 chargers under the Reopening Ontario Act between Apr. 19 and 25. 

"And it's not one area of the city, it's spread across in the total city of Brampton."

And Brampton's not the only city struggling with this issue. On Monday, Toronto Police announced that officers had busted more than 200 illegal parties over the weekend and laid more than 160 charges as a result.

Toronto police busted more than 200 illegal parties over the weekend https://t.co/8gtCv4BmYV #Toronto #TorontoPolice

— blogTO (@blogTO) April 27, 2021

"While I want to thank the vast majority of residents who are respecting the law, too many people – mostly adults - are having parties and hosting large gatherings in Toronto every day and night. It has to stop," said TPS Chief James Ramer in a statement. 

"At a time when positive case counts continue to rise to worrying numbers and hospital ICU admissions are at their highest, it's extremely disappointing to see people having parties and gatherings and putting themselves, their families, healthcare workers and First Responders at increased risk."