The Quebec government has issued tens of thousands of fines to residents who did not comply with its pandemic restrictions, but a new report finds that this “punitive” approach does not necessarily slow the spread of COVID-19. “Québec chose to turn the public health crisis into a public safety crisis, managed with 46,563 police interventions,” concluded the report, conducted by four researchers from the University of Montreal’s Profiling Observatory (l’Observatoire des profilages) and released on March 10. “Our report shows that 46,563 statements of offence were issued with regard to the health measures between September 21, 2020, and October 3, 2021. This means that on average, more than 123 statements of offence were issued per day in Québec by police forces during this period.” Specifically, the report analyzed infractions related to COVID-19 measures, including gathering limits, curfews, mask mandates, and proof of vaccination. The authors noted that the number of …