Only 3 COVID tickets paid, 10 withdrawn so far in Sask.

There have been more COVID-19 tickets withdrawn than paid so far in Saskatchewan.

But that could soon change.

The Ministry of Justice said there were 41 charges laid related to violations of COVID public health orders at the end of January.

Of those, five have resulted in convictions, with fines being fully collected for three of them.

To date, 10 COVID-related tickets have been either withdrawn or jurisdiction was lost.

The ministry said a ticket may not proceed for many reasons – a lack of evidence or it may not be in the public interest to proceed because of surrounding events.

There can also be issues with court dates.

The ministry said at the beginning of the pandemic, a few tickets were withdrawn due to a combination of exceptional circumstances.

It said that situation “will not occur again, and recent changes in regulation will ensure that all matters proceed to court in the future, even in the case of backlogs and delays.”

Unpaid tickets are sent to a collection agency, the Canada Revenue Agency or both in some cases.

The remaining 26 tickets are pending a court date and a decision.

The ministry said the number of tickets handed out has increased over recent months and it will take time for them to proceed to court.

The government didn’t provide an interview prior to the time of publishing.