The territorial government has not fined a driver and passenger for sharing a vehicle while not living together, the Press Secretary's Office stated on Monday night.
A social media post claimed a driver stopped by police was handed a $4,500 fine while the passenger was penalized $1,000 for not following social distancing protocols to prevent the spread of Covid-19 because they were in the car together but don't share the same home address.
Last week, the GNWT introduced the NWT Compliance and Enforcement Task force. Officials said its members, more than 30 of them spread throughout the territory's 33 communities, would work to ensure chief public health officer Dr. Kami Kandola's orders are followed.
They will be designated as peace officers who can "issue tickets and impose fines of up to $10,000 on the first offense."
But on Monday, the GNWT Department of Health and Social Services provided a statement to Yellowknife media outlets through the legislative assembly's press secretary that said members of the new task force would not have the authority to conduct a traffic stop. It said no one had been fined and no charges under the Public Health Act had been laid since the task force began operations on Saturday.
"If (a traffic stop) were required based on public health risk, we could coordinate that through the task force by involving other authorities, such as the RCMP," the statement continued.
NNSL Media asked the department whether it was aware an incident occurred or if the task force would be making charges public. Those answers were not available Monday night.
NNSL Media also reached out to the RCMP media on Monday evening and was still waiting for a response about the alleged incident at the end of the night.
It is NNSL Media's understanding that the Municipal Enforcement Division, which is responsible for the city's traffic enforcement, is not - and has not- been involved in pulling over traffic for the territorial government's public health-related enforcement efforts.
It is also the NNSL Media's understanding that even if the GNWT's enforcement task force were involved with other organizations like the RCMP to pull over traffic, it would have no obligation to inform the city regarding charges under the Public Health Act or those based on directives from Kandola's office.
This story will be updated.