The Liberals’ pandemic quarantine plan was a costly failure, says a new audit..Blacklock’s Reporter says the Public Health Agency spent more than $600 million enforcing a hodgepodge of quarantine rules that still left the border unsecure against COVID-19, the audit found..“This is not a success story,” said Auditor General Karen Hogan..“I am concerned the Public Health Agency is unable to show us whether or not these border measures are effective. The agency’s inability to confirm whether more than one-third of travelers complied with quarantine orders remains a significant problem.”.Cabinet within two weeks of the outbreak of the pandemic invoked a cascading series of rules on cross-border travelers..“It’s really important that people take this seriously,” then-Health Minister Patricia Hajdu said at the time..Auditors depicted the program as costly and haphazard..“From March 2020 to August 2021, the agency spent $614 million to administer border measures including $65 million for 14-day quarantine orders, $342 million for COVID-19 testing orders, $7 million to operate government-authorized hotels, and $200 million to house incoming travelers at designated quarantine facilities.”.Despite the expense, the PHA could not verify COVID-19 tests for 30% of travelers let into Canada, nor verify that 75% of air passengers referred to quarantine hotels actually checked in..“Without verifying travelers’ compliance with mandatory quarantine orders the Public Health Agency cannot know whether its approach to enforcing the orders is effective,” wrote auditors..Penalties against quarantine scofflaws were also unevenly applied..“We found an uneven issuance of tickets for non-compliance,” wrote auditors..Scofflaws were fined in British Columbia, Manitoba and Ontario, but paid no fines at all in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Québec and Atlantic Canada..Police had powers to charge, though investigations were rare, said the audit..“At the time of our audit only five criminal charges had been laid.”.The PHA last January hired private security companies to track thousands of cross-border travelers suspected of skirting quarantine rules..“Security officers from these companies conducted more than 200,000 visits in more than 400 cities across the country,” said the audit..“136,735 travelers were prioritized as a high risk of non-compliance with quarantine orders. We found the agency was unaware of what follow-up actions law enforcement took for 59% of these priority referrals.”.The pandemic was declared March 11, 2020. Cabinet invoked the Quarantine Act on March 25 with successive orders that required all international air and land travelers to take COVID-19 tests before and after their arrival.
The Liberals’ pandemic quarantine plan was a costly failure, says a new audit..Blacklock’s Reporter says the Public Health Agency spent more than $600 million enforcing a hodgepodge of quarantine rules that still left the border unsecure against COVID-19, the audit found..“This is not a success story,” said Auditor General Karen Hogan..“I am concerned the Public Health Agency is unable to show us whether or not these border measures are effective. The agency’s inability to confirm whether more than one-third of travelers complied with quarantine orders remains a significant problem.”.Cabinet within two weeks of the outbreak of the pandemic invoked a cascading series of rules on cross-border travelers..“It’s really important that people take this seriously,” then-Health Minister Patricia Hajdu said at the time..Auditors depicted the program as costly and haphazard..“From March 2020 to August 2021, the agency spent $614 million to administer border measures including $65 million for 14-day quarantine orders, $342 million for COVID-19 testing orders, $7 million to operate government-authorized hotels, and $200 million to house incoming travelers at designated quarantine facilities.”.Despite the expense, the PHA could not verify COVID-19 tests for 30% of travelers let into Canada, nor verify that 75% of air passengers referred to quarantine hotels actually checked in..“Without verifying travelers’ compliance with mandatory quarantine orders the Public Health Agency cannot know whether its approach to enforcing the orders is effective,” wrote auditors..Penalties against quarantine scofflaws were also unevenly applied..“We found an uneven issuance of tickets for non-compliance,” wrote auditors..Scofflaws were fined in British Columbia, Manitoba and Ontario, but paid no fines at all in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Québec and Atlantic Canada..Police had powers to charge, though investigations were rare, said the audit..“At the time of our audit only five criminal charges had been laid.”.The PHA last January hired private security companies to track thousands of cross-border travelers suspected of skirting quarantine rules..“Security officers from these companies conducted more than 200,000 visits in more than 400 cities across the country,” said the audit..“136,735 travelers were prioritized as a high risk of non-compliance with quarantine orders. We found the agency was unaware of what follow-up actions law enforcement took for 59% of these priority referrals.”.The pandemic was declared March 11, 2020. Cabinet invoked the Quarantine Act on March 25 with successive orders that required all international air and land travelers to take COVID-19 tests before and after their arrival.
