Public Safety Secretary Mike Farnworth (BC Gov Flickr)

The province is adding a new level to its non-essential travel ban.

Counterattack style roadside checks will be conducted on the freeway corridors connecting BC’s health zones through May 25.

If you get stopped at any of them you might be asked:

  • Your name, address and driver’s license,
  • Documentation about your name and address (e.g. secondary identification confirming your address if you have recently moved) and
  • the purpose of your trip.

The police will not conduct arbitrary vehicle or roadside checks.

If the police believe you are traveling for a non-essential purpose, they can ask you to turn around and leave the area.

BC Attorney General Mike Farnworth says the goal is education and preventing travel for non-essential reasons.

If necessary, the police have the power to impose fines.

If you violate this Emergency Program Act travel order, you may be viewing a $ 575 ticket.

“The RCMP will deploy a trained, dedicated team to manage and enforce the locations of roadside checks and ensure that interactions are in line with the intent of the regulation and all existing police policies and standards,” a provincial press release said.

Farnworth says the only police force who will conduct checks will be the provincial RCMP.

“We have worked with the RCMP E-Division and the only reviews that will be put in place are those authorized by the E-Division and the dedicated traffic unit that deals with it.”

He reiterated that the province would allocate additional resources for these controls “from the start”.

You are not allowed to travel outside of your regional zone until after at least the long May weekend.

You are:

  • Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley (Fraser Health and Coastal Health regions);
  • Vancouver Island (Island Health Region); and
  • Northern / Interior (Interior Health and Northern Health regions).

The province says people seem to be getting the message to stay in their own health zone.

On the first weekend of the restrictions, BC Ferries fleet-wide vehicle traffic was more than 25 percent lower and passenger traffic was more than 30 percent lower than the previous weekend.

Resort communities and lodging establishments have seen a sharp drop in visitor numbers and bookings outside the area, and BC Parks has reported more than 5,000 cancellations in the past few weeks.

Farnworth thanked the “vast majority” of BC’s “who are doing their part”.

“In particular, I would like to thank BC Ferries, Hotels and all of our partners in the tourism sector for working closely with us to help their visitors cancel or rebook their reservations.”

Farnworth said the restrictions on non-essential travel “save lives, it is in the best interests of all British Columbians to follow and I know most are experiencing the significant decline we have seen traveling outside of the region” he said BC Attorney General Mike Farnworth.

“But it is also important that we get enforcement right, taking into account the concerns expressed by the public, and taking into account feedback from racialized communities. I want to make it clear that the intent of this order is not to punish, but to educate about non-essential travel prevention in order to protect us all from the spread of COVID-19, ”he added.

“I hope that every British Columbian will realize the tremendous strides we can make by staying close to home, and we can give the heroes in our health care system a chance to put the current surge in cases behind us. “

While the travel arrangement only legally restricts travel between regional zones, the province says the PHO’s guidelines remain unchanged throughout BC: everyone should continue to stay in their local community – only essential travel.