Can Trudeau Legally Forbid Canadians From Travelling? Courts Likely Would Decide

Can Trudeau Legally Forbid Canadians From Travelling? Courts Likely Would Decide

January 24, 2021 Jim Byers

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shocked the Canadian travel industry last week when he said Canada could institute a ban on non-essential travel.

It’s not clear if the move will go ahead, although he and his Cabinet have been talking tougher every day, as has Quebec Premier Francois Legault. it’s also not clear whether it’s a legal move, and it’s all but certain that any such ban would be met with opposition.

A report from CTVNews.com says legal experts feel that a ban on non-essential travel would violate the mobility rights guaranteed in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which states, “Every citizen of Canada has the right to enter, remain in and leave Canada.” The question, experts told the network, is whether a ban can be justified.

“The Constitution is very clear that Canadians have the right to enter and leave Canada,” Johanne Poirier, a McGill University law professor who specializes in Canadian federalism, said in a recent interview. But like other rights, she said, it can be limited — if the limitation is justified, reasonable and proportionate.

And given the worldwide pandemic, the courts might offer the government more flexibility, she said.

“These would not be cases where the courts would be extremely taxing or demanding on the government,” she said. “But the government would still have to justify it, because there’s no doubt that there’s a violation of rights.”

Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau told CBC on Sunday that Ottawa could use the federal Emergencies Act to limit travel.

“We are looking at all potential actions to make sure that we can achieve our aims. The Emergencies Act is something you don’t consider lightly,” Garneau he told the network. “But we are first and foremost concerned about the health and safety of Canadians. And if we can do that in a way that we have the regulatory power to do it, we will do it.”

The three Maritime provinces and Newfoundland & Labrador last year brought in the so-called “Atlantic Bubble,” which denied Canadians from other provinces from visiting unless it was for essential business. The move was challenged in Newfoundland Supreme Court by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, but the court upheld the rules as a reasonable exemption to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

British Columbia Premier John Horgan last week said he’s no longer considering a plan that would’ve banned residents of other provinces from visiting B.C.