Canadian travelers had a duty to swear off “hedonistic pleasure” during COVID lockdowns, says Ontario Divisional Court. A justice of the peace upheld $4,500 in fines for a woman he called “cavalier and selfish” for taking a Mexican holiday..“Some did not heed the government’s request not to travel outside of Canada and were instead cavalier and selfish in their attitude toward their social responsibility,” wrote Justice Richard Quon..“They did not heed the scientific-based and consequential advice and did travel outside of Canada for hedonistic pleasure.”.According to Blacklock's Reporter, the comments came in the case of a Toronto woman who flew to Mexico for a working vacation on Dec. 27, 2020 just a day after Ontario invoked a province-wide lockdown. The traveler was fined on her return for declining a COVID test at the airport and failing to prepay three nights’ stay in a quarantine hotel..“When asked if she had referenced any Orders in Council in respect to the entry requirements for travel back to Canada, the defendant said she did not know about any Orders in Council,” wrote the court..“Making a mistake of law or ignorance of the law are not legally recognized by the courts as a valid defence,” added Quon..Travelers at the time faced numerous regulations under the Quarantine Act including mandatory proof of a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of arrival. Federal agents in the first year of the pandemic issued $2,964,000 in quarantine fines on air travelers, by official estimate..“We believe through these effective measures, appropriate screening and the testing measures in particular that we have put in place coupled with robust and enforced quarantine orders, it is the best way to prevent variants from spreading across our borders into Canada,” then-Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said at the time..However, a federal audit last December 9 rated the quarantine rules a costly failure..“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.”.Auditors in a report Enforcement Of Quarantine And Covid-19 Testing Orders: Public Health Agency said a hodgepodge of quarantine rules saw the Agency spend $614 million to administer border measures. Despite the expense the agency could not verify COVID 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.
