Canadian police refuse provincial order to make random stops amid COVID-19 surge

The Toronto city skyline is shown in this aerial photo over Lake Ontario in Toronto November 1, 2015. REUTERS/Hyungwon Kang

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Police in cities across Ontario, Canada's most populous province, on Saturday refused to make random stops greenlighted by the provincial government seeking to impose a stay-at-home order amid a surge in COVID-19 cases.

Toronto, the country's largest city, Ottawa, Hamilton, Windsor and at least 19 other municipal police forces said they would not conduct random vehicle or individual stops though they had been given the power to do so.