Canadian Constitution Foundation Suing Trudeau Government Over Quarantine Hotels

March 10, 2021 ctn_admin

 A Canadian constitutional rights advocacy group is suing the Trudeau government over its quarantine hotel policy, arguing it infringes on the fundamental rights of Canadians.

The Canadian Constitution Foundation has filed an application in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, along with five individual applicants who have just returned from travelling or imminently need to travel.

The quarantine hotel policy requires travellers entering Canada to take a COVID test and quarantine at a government approved hotel until they receive the results. Travelers pay out of pocket for these hotels, which can cost more than $2,000 per traveller.

“The quarantine hotel policy is an unjustified limit on the rights of Canadians’ Charter protected right to enter Canada. The $2,000 cost per traveler is exploitive and punitive, and some of the hotels have been operating with inhumane conditions,” CCF Litigation Director, Christine Van Geyn said in a note on their website.

The individual applicants in the challenge brought by the CCF are all travelling for compassionate reasons. For example, three applicants wish to travel to attend to the end of the life of parent in another country. One applicant left Canada to attend a funeral, and another needs to travel to assist a spouse resident in another country while she undergoes surgery.

While there are exemptions from the quarantine hotels for travellers entering Canada for compassionate reasons, there are no specific exemptions for travellers who must leave Canada for compassionate reasons.

“The individual applicants in this challenge must leave Canada for incredibly compassionate and sympathetic reasons. Their need to travel is unimpeachable,” said Van Geyn. “It is frankly bizarre and cruel that the federal government provides specific exemptions for compassionate travel into Canada, but not for the reverse situation of individuals travelling out of Canada for compassionate reasons. That’s why we are bringing this constitutional challenge.”

The CCF is challenging the quarantine hotel policy on the grounds that it is a violation of the Charter protected right to enter Canada (s. 6), the Charter protected right to liberty (s. 7), the Charter protected right to be free from arbitrary detention (s. 9), and the Charter protected right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment (s. 12). The CCF is seeking an urgent injunction, a declaration that the quarantine requirement is unconstitutional, and monetary damages in the amount of the estimated hotel costs.

The CCF is represented by Toronto lawyer Jonathan Roth.

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