Coronavirus: Pedestrian confused after being ticketed for walking through Halifax Common

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We all know we’re to “stay the blazes home.”

It was Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil who turned that phrase into a viral sensation when he urged people to stay home during the COVID-19 pandemic, suggesting travel should only be taken for essential measures.

Still, some Nova Scotians are confused around the rules when it comes to travelling outside the home.

Tim Cleveland, a chef who walks to work daily, found himself with a ticket in his hand after police stopped him in the Halifax Common for failing to comply with directions under the province’s emergency management act.

Cleveland said he was walking along the path on Thursday afternoon near the skatepark when he heard someone shouting behind him.

It was a Halifax Regional Police officer and it caught him off guard.

“I pretty much thought it was a sidewalk,” said Cleveland, referring to the paved pathway that cuts through the park.

HRM closed its parks, beaches, playgrounds, sports fields and trails after the provincial government declared a state of emergency on Sunday, March 22.

Caution tape was installed at all park entrances, but despite the closure and warnings, people had continued to congregate in the green space and use the pathways, which led the province’s department of justice to clamp down and instruct police to enforce the rules and ticket those who don’t abide.