Hotel Quarantine Court Decision Looms: Ruling Could Come on Monday

Hotel Quarantine Court Decision Looms: Ruling Could Come on Monday

March 19, 2021 ctn_admin

We should find out soon whether an injunction will be granted to stop the federal government’s controversial hotel quarantine program.

Speaking in a court hearing broadcast on Zoom on Friday, Ontario Superior Court Judge Frederick Myers said he should have a written decision by Monday morning.

Myers presided over a three-hour session on Friday to hear a challenge from the Canadian Constitution Foundation.

The CCF was joined by five individual applicants who are either seeking to travel imminently, or have just returned from travelling.

“We were pleased with how the hearing went, and we thought Mr. Roth, our lawyer, did an excellent job presenting the case and answering the judge’s questions,” Christine Van Geyn, Litigation Director of the CCF, told Canadian Travel News in an email. “While the standard for an injunction is high, we believe we have a strong case and a the individual travellers we are working with have extremely compelling stories.

“We look forward to the decision on Monday.”

The plan requires all arriving passengers at Canada’s four open international airports to undergo a COVID-19 test. They are then required to check into a pre-selected airport hotel for up to three nights while they await their test results.

Rooms can cost upwards of $2,000, although many are cheaper, and hotels don’t appear to be offering refunds if guests get their test results before their three day stay is up. In addition to the payment issue and lack of refunds, guests have complained of crowded lobbies and poor food at the quarantine hotels.

In an opinion piece posted on our site, Van Geyn said the individuals involved in the Ontario case are “incredibly sympathetic. They have recently travelled for end-of-life care of a parent or for a funeral, or are urgently seeking to leave Canada for a compassionate reason.”

“Trudeau’s quarantine hotels have only been operating for a few weeks, but they are already facing serious legal challenges,” she said in her published story. “The hotels are considered by civil libertarians and travellers alike to be one of the most poorly implemented and restrictive responses to COVID-19 brought by any level of government.

“That’s why the quarantine hotel policy is now facing at least four constitutional challenges. Two in Alberta, one in Ontario and one in Quebec,” Van Geyn wrote.