"The ticket is invalid": Sunwing party organizer issued a fine for breaking QC curfew

Jan 18 2022, 9:39 pm

James William Awad, known best for his role as organizer in the controversial Sunwing party flight, has once again gotten himself in hot water. This time, in his home province of Quebec.

On Sunday night the 28-year-old influencer and artist known as Senior was returning home to Montreal for the first time since making worldwide headlines for breaking health measures and airline policy.

Upon crossing the US-Canada land border, Awad, who was driving a U-Haul, was stopped by Quebec provincial police at approximately 2:30 am for being out past curfew, and issued a fine.

Awad tells Daily Hive that he won’t pay the ticket. “It’s invalid since the government website mentions curfew ends on the 17th.”

The influencer says he would rather spend the money in a charitable way.

“I’m going to donate that money to a health organization instead of paying that ticket,” he said.

Quebec’s second curfew lasted between December 31 and January 17, and was in effect every night between the hours of 10 pm and 5 am. Because Awad’s fine was issued in the wee hours of Monday morning, he may very well be the last person in Quebec to be fined for breaking curfew.

Along with rising tensions with government officials, the owner of the exclusive 111 Private Club says he has also received unfair treatment from media over the past month.

“I feel like a few media out there made a really big deal out of this. I take this whole COVID situation seriously and have paid for my private club members to get tested four times. It cost me a lot of money.”

Awad alleges that “only one” member, now banned from his club, boarded the flight after testing positive for COVID-19, something he says put “everyone else in danger.”

As for the party on the plane, Awad says that “only 15-20 people” participated. He claims that there were “no instructions” from airline workers to stop, and that in-flight employees even encouraged the behaviour. “Sunwing was selling alcohol throughout the whole flight, meaning the party was not ‘dangerous.'”

Transport Canada recently confirmed that it has been in contact with the airline concerning the flight. If the department determines non-compliance with Transport Canada’s regulations and requirements, Awad and other passengers could be fined up to $5,000.

“I’m not worried about the penalties to be honest. Whatever happens, happens. There was nothing criminal about this whole situation. If I get a fine, I’ll pay it and move on.”

When asked if he would have done anything differently in retrospect, he says he would have told people not to take videos on the flight.

The influencer says that once this is behind him he will continue “working on opening up registrations for the 111 Private Club“, something he expects to accomplish by February 1.

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