Are Fliers Bypassing Mandatory Testing and Hotel Quarantines? Looks That Way

Are Fliers Bypassing Mandatory Testing and Hotel Quarantines? Looks That Way

February 24, 2021 ctn_admin

At least some people coming into Canada appear to be bypassing the country’s mandatory testing and hotel quarantine rules.

A story by City News this week pointed out how one flier came into Toronto Pearson and appeared confused about the rules. She ended up simply walking out of the airport without any authorities appearing to try to stop here.

Another arriving passenger posted a YouTube video of him walking out and challenging authorities to stop him.

There also are legal challenges being made to the new travel restrictions, which came into effect on Monday, Feb. 22.

Non-profit organization Faces of Advocacy, which filed a challenge to the measure in Quebec Superior Court on Monday, calls the strict measures excessive, disproportionate and arbitrary, saying they infringe on the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

“This measure contributes to the fracturing of the family unit and isolates potentially vulnerable people far from their families,” the suit claims.

Faces of Advocacy founder David Poon said the Trudeau government should grant exemptions to the obligatory quarantines to allow those with families to isolate in their homes, which he said would be safe and more affordable.

The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms said earlier this month that it would file legal action against the new restrictions.

The Centre first sent a legal demand letter to Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra warning it would sue in Federal Court if the government proceeded with its plan for mandatory hotel quarantines.

People trying to book quarantine hotels on the weekend said they had to wait for hours and hours on the telephone and were often cut off. The government system for booking rooms requires would-be travellers to book with American Express Business Travel by telephone.

CTV News had an email from the Public Health Agency of Canada on the issue. The agency said that a “significant portion” of travellers calling the government phone lines to book a quarantine hotel in Canada were doing so too far in advance, potentially tying up the lines for more urgent calls from getting through.

“A significant portion of the calls coming to the booking line are from people enquiring about booking hotel rooms in March and April,” PHAC senior spokesperson Tammy Jarbeau told CTVNews.ca via email on Tuesday.

She said only people with flights arriving in Canada within the next 48 hours should be calling the phone lines open from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. every day of the week.

As of Monday, Feb. 22, all travellers who fly into Canada’s four open airports (Calgary, Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver) must take a PCR-style test for COVID-19. They also are required to have made a reservation at an approved quarantine hotel near one of those airports.

Travellers are required to pay for three nights at hotels that range in price from around $611 to $2,200 and stay at the property until their test result comes in. If they’re negative, they can go home and finish the rest of their mandatory, 14-day quarantine. If they test positive, they’re sent to a government facility for the rest of their quarantine.

The hotel costs include food, security and transportation, but it doesn’t appear any hotels will refund a customer if they get their virus test result after one or two nights and are allowed to leave the hotel.