Quarantine Hotel Injunction Request Dismissed by Ontario Superior Court

March 22, 2021 Jim Byers

The Superior Court of Ontario has dismissed a requested injunction against the federal government’s quarantine hotel program.

Mr. Justice Frederick Myers said in his ruling, issued today (March 22), that the evidence the government used to create the hotel quarantine plan “is deeply rooted in science and comprehensive public policy development.”

“The balance of convenience, including the public interest in preventing the spread of COVID-19 and, especially, its variants, overwhelmingly supports the refusal of injunctive relief at this time,” he said in his written decision.

The Canadian Constitution Foundation (CCF) was seeking an interim injunction, which would have applied to five travellers who were arguing the quarantine plan infringes on their rights as Canadians and would have suspended the law until a larger hearing on the merits of the constitutional challenge. The court dismissed the motion for an interim injunction, but the CCF said it will continue the fight.

“This was not the result we wanted today, but the court did recognize that the applicants in our challenge have sympathetic stories and that the constitutional questions need to be heard on the merits. The court also acknowledged that the applicants’ section 7 Charter liberty interests are engaged by the quarantine hotel policy,” said CCF Litigation Director, Christine Van Geyn.

“We look forward to the hearing on the full constitutional question, and we are proud of the work were are doing assisting these travellers, who need to leave Canada for compassionate reasons. We will seek to expedite the hearing, as these travellers have urgent needs to go and be with their ailing loved ones outside of Canada,” she said.

In his decision, Mr. Justice Myers wrote that on the evidence before him, “the government is being anything but
draconian. It is employing the precautionary principle to take measured but needed steps to prevent or delay the variants from taking hold in Canada as vaccines are coming online.”

He also said that, while he has great sympathy for people suffering family issues, “the balance of convenience strongly favours the government and the public interest over concerns of the few people who find themselves wanting or needing to travel abroad during the pandemic…”

Mr. Justice Myers noted in his decision that Ottawa’s current emergency quarantine order expires on April 21, 2021.

Other legal challenges to the federal government’s quarantine hotel plan have been filed.

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