There have been rules that are being implemented by governments all over the world and there is no difference when it comes to the Canadian government. These rules are however only regarding the tourism sector. There will always be fear that with air travel opening up and lockdowns being eased if one is not careful the pandemic could flare again and the country could go back to square one.
With economies suffering the way they are and industries shutting down the Canadian government made a call to have strict rules where air traveling was concerned. This was the booking of a non-refundable government authorized quarantine hotel.
Now this rule is under legal fire and judicial scrutiny at a trial challenging the constitutionality of the COVID-19 control measures. Four separate challenges are being heard together by Paul Crampton, Chief Justice of the Federal Court, who started the trial’s opening day, featuring 10,000 pages of documents, on the 50th anniversary of the court’s founding.
Sayeh Hassan a lawyer quoted that “This is not what we do in Canada, we do not detain law-abiding citizens en masse, and these measures have a devastating impact on our democracy. We tend to see these types of measures where the rule of law doesn’t exist.”
The issue is clearly the federal government’s Covid 19 control measures that require travelers arriving in Canada by air to pre-book at their own expense a three-day non-refundable stay in a government-authorized hotel, and remain in quarantine there until a second COVID test confirms they are not carrying the novel coronavirus.
The 14 applicants in four separate challenges argue the mandatory hotel rules violate their rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms because they are law-abiding people who can safely quarantine at home.
