From my perspective, I think there needs to be better coordination around the messaging. We were hearing federal officials commenting publicly about things like self-isolation orders or quarantine orders. Those comments were widely covered by the media, yet on the street, on the front line where our members are operating, we were not getting any information initially about what the expectations were of police.
That puts the police in a difficult situation, because we're now in the middle. The public is saying, “What are you doing about this?” and “Why aren't you taking enforcement action?” and other people are asking, “Why are you trying to prevent me from going to this park? Why are you criticizing me for leaving my home?”, etc.
I understand that any decisions have to be evidence-based and informed by the science, but there needs to be a better coordination of the messaging from the federal government, in my view, which has a leadership role to play, and then through to its provincial and municipal partners. We had a lot of inconsistent messaging from all levels of government at the outset of this pandemic, from my perspective, on behalf of the members that I represent.