The province is ready to get tough on people not willing to follow provincial health orders related to COVID-19.
On a day when the first vaccines were administered in B.C., Premier John Horgan said the province will "beef up enforcement" over the next few weeks.
During his weekly news conference, Horgan said while a majority of British Columbians are focused on doing the right thing, "there are those that are not prepared to bend a little bit in the personal lives to the benefit of all of us.
"Consequently, we are going to be beefing up enforcement on public health orders over the next couple of weeks."
He said anyone in the province who has authority over others are being asked to work with law enforcement to ensure public health orders are being acted upon.
"That means holding rule breakers accountable. That means ensuring the fines we levy are collected."
Horgan says once due process has been exhausted, the government will go to collections for those who do not pay up.
"This is serious. This is not a lark. This is not something we do lightly. Those who do not want to obey the rules the rest of us are following will have to pay the consequences," he said.
"I don't believe you can put a price on public safety, particularly as we come to this very difficult second wave of a global pandemic."
Horgan says he is optimistic the pandemic can be eradicated by summer, but says to get there, pubic health orders must be followed, and those who are willing to get a vaccination do so when it becomes widely available.
