Justice of the peace Helen Gale said two words as she looked at the charge Andrew Van’t Foort, a no-show in the Sarnia courtroom, was facing.
“Oh dear,” she said.
The 37-year-old Southwestern Ontario man was charged with failing to comply with an order under the Quarantine Act on Aug. 14, 2021. While that provincial pandemic emergency response legislation is no longer in effect, charges laid when it was enacted are still being prosecuted.
A trial for the charge laid against Van’t Foort, a resident of the small Oxford County community of Otterville, was scheduled for earlier this month in Sarnia, but he didn’t show up – either in person or via Zoom – or have a lawyer or paralegal represent him that day. under the Provincial Offenses Act, a defendant is considered to not be disputing the charge when they fail to appear at their trial.
The mandatory fine for this conviction when it’s not disputed is $5,000, which is why those two words initially popped into Gale’s mind.
“I have no discretion. The fine is $5,000,” she said. “They’ve not attended to speak with the prosecutor with an explanation to get a reduction. No one’s here to make submission to the court. I have no discretion.”
Then, she turned to Kelli Van’t Foort’s charge.
“This whole family. (They) got another one,” she said.
Kelli Van’t Foort was facing the same charge from the same day and was also set to go to trial. When she was a no-show as well, Gale said it was the same situation – a conviction and a four-figure fine.
“It is a very significant fine, admittedly. Here’s hoping that these people will start to attend (their trials) or contact the prosecutors, but otherwise I have no discretion. The fine is $5,000,” she said.
The court did not hear any details of the incident because the trials weren’t held.
Gale gave the couple 30 days to contact the court to try to get their convictions reopened, but noted they would need to have a reasonable explanation as to why they didn’t make it to court.
“These people really need to attend court or reach out to the prosecutor in advance,” she said.
Kelli Van’t Foort didn’t respond by press time Thursday to a request for comment via social media about whether they plan to appeal the convictions.
A senior with ties to Southwestern Ontario was also hit last month with a $5,000 fine for the same no-show conviction.