The respondent corporation was convicted of permitting its premises to be used for the unlawful sale of cannabis.
The Justice of the Peace imposed a $4,000 fine, below the $25,000 mandatory minimum, citing the director's personal circumstances and the COVID-19 pandemic.
The City of Toronto appealed.
The Ontario Court of Justice allowed the appeal, finding that the Justice of the Peace erred in considering the director's personal financial circumstances and that the pandemic did not automatically constitute 'exceptional circumstances' under s. 59(2) of the Provincial Offences Act to justify relief from the minimum fine.
The court imposed the mandatory minimum fine of $25,000.
