Premier Doug Ford has had enough and he’s getting tough with retailers who resort to price gouging during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ford says the government has issued an emergency order that retail businesses and individuals in Ontario can’t charge unfair prices for necessary goods such as face masks, cold medicine, disinfecting wipes, protective gloves and hand sanitizer.
“When you are hiking the price 5 times, 10 times what it should be. You’re done, you’re gone. Because we’re coming after you. We have drastically increased the penalties you will face for this disgusting activity and we will shut you down.”
Individual offenders can receive a ticket of $750 or a maximum fine of $1,000 and one year in jail if the case comes with a conviction in court.
If convicted, a company director or officer could face a fine of up to $500,000 and up to one year in jail.
A corporation could face a fine of up to $10 million.
This follows a social media posting last week showing a Toronto store charging 30-dollars for a bottle of hand sanitizer.
Consumers are urged to report an individual who is price gouging by filing a complaint at 1-800-889-9768 between 8:30am and 5:00pm, Monday to Friday.
