Trudeau Government Fines At Least 15 People For Hotel Quarantine Evasion

Trudeau Government Fines At Least 15 People For Hotel Quarantine Evasion

March 10, 2021 ctn_admin

Reports say the Trudeau government has fined 15 travellers up to $3,000 for evading hotel quarantine laws.

CityTV says the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) told them that at least 15 travellers have been fined as of March 8.

PHAC officials said most people have been fined $3,000 under the Quarantine Act. It’s not clear if that’s in total, or for each day of non-compliance, as described under the act, the station reported.

The maximum fine for ignoring quarantine rules under the act is $750,000, with possible imprisonment of up to six months. Penalties increase to as much as $1 million and three years in prison should the person be found to have lied about quarantine plans and affected seriously someone else’s health.

“It is the traveller’s responsibility to ensure they have a confirmed government-authorized hotel booking before they fly to Canada,” Health Canada said in a statement.

The Canadian government last month began requiring all arriving air passengers to be tested for COVID-19 at one of four airports approved for inbound international flights: Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Calgary. Passengers also must book a hotel for three nights and await their test results.

If a passenger tests negative, they can leave the hotel and finish their mandatory 14-day quarantine at home. But hotels are charging people for three full days, even if they get their test results in hours.

If a passenger tests positive, for COVID-19 (this has been very, very rare in the past couple weeks, as you can see in another story we posted today), they are sent to a federal facility to finish out their 14-day quarantine period.

Guests have been charged more than $2,000 at some airport hotels.

The government began with just a small number of airport quarantine hotels, but there are now almost four dozen in those four cities.

Ottawa originally insisted that all bookings be made by phone through an American Express office in Montreal. But phone lines were jammed and there were constant complaints. Many hotels are now accepting online bookings.

Meanwhile, the Canadian Constitution Foundation has mounted a lawsuit against the hotel quarantine plan.