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Sudbury gym owner hit with $880 fine for running unauthorized day camp during lockdown

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A Sudbury gym owner who ran a day camp while his gym was forced to close because of the COVID-19 lockdown has been fined $800.

Dennis Legault, owner of Apex Warrior, a ninja gym in Sudbury’s south end, said he wasn't trying to break the rules, but was trying to make the most of a difficult situation for himself and parents.

“We were able to bring kids in to do their online learning here and then we would provide, you know, a little bit of time in the ninja course during gym just to keep the kids active and engaged during the day," Legault said.

"We made it two days and then on Tuesday, Sudbury health showed up, a bunch of cops showed up and they ended up just completely shutting us down."

He said thanks to the support from the community after he posted the news on social media, the cost of the fine has been covered.

“That was unreal. I just kind of wanted to share what happened. It snowballed into this really big thing that I didn’t know it was going to do," Legault said.

"The amount of support from the community and people that have reached out that I don’t even know. From the members, it's been massive. They all got together and started collecting donations to help cover the fine and it surpassed the amount of the fine.”

He said the program was capped at 10 children. With 5,000 square feet of space, he said everyone had their own area and the children wore masks.

But he admits he didn't check with Public Health Sudbury & Districts before offering the day camp because he said it's something he has offered during past lockdowns.

“The rules are always changing and so it’s really hard to stay updated," Legault said.

"In the summertime, we ran summer camps during when gyms were completely shut down. We were still open, running summer camps all summer and you know we try to do something similar -- but different -- this time and they shut us down.”

Kevin McGarry, a father of two, said the day camp was a chance for his children to do school in separate locations.

“It was like a win-win," McGarry said. "It was like, yeah, I’m jumping on this.”

He was on his way to get his son on Tuesday when he received a message that police were at the gym and wouldn’t be leaving until everyone was picked up.

“That’s obviously really tough to explain to a six-year-old," McGarry said.

CTV News contacted Public Health Sudbury & Districts about the incident and received this statement:

“Public Health Sudbury & Districts works with enforcement partners such as municipal bylaw and Greater Sudbury Police Services to follow up on issues of non-compliance with provincial legislation. These provincial regulations are designed to reduce the risk of COVID-19 spread within the province as well as local communities.

"Under the present legislation O. Reg. 263/20: RULES FOR AREAS IN STEP 2 under Reopening Ontario (A Flexible Response to COVID-19) Act, 2020, S.O. 2020, c. 17, day camps, child care providers for school-age children and facilities for indoor sports and recreational fitness activities as well as many other businesses are not allowed to operate except under specific circumstances.” 

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