The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) will appeal the Federal Court of Canada decision ruling mandatory quarantine hotels and facilities for Canadians is constitutional. .“Confining law-abiding citizens into government approved facilities and hotels is unacceptable in a free and democratic society,” said JCCF lawyer Henna Parmar in a Wednesday press release. .“We are hopeful the Federal Court of Appeal will agree with the appellants that the lower court erred in finding that the mandatory use of quarantine hotels and facilities was justified in a free and democratic society.”.The release said the appeal will be heard January 17. It said the Federal Court of Appeal will hear arguments about whether the appeal is moot, as quarantine hotels and facilities are no longer in effect. .The Federal Court of Canada ruled in 2021 mandatory quarantine hotels at a traveller’s expense were constitutional. .READ MORE: Judge declares quarantine hotels constitutional.The JCCF said the decision will be reviewed with a plan to appeal. .It was determined the constitutional rights and freedoms of client Nicole Mathis were unjustifiably infringed by authorities’ failures to inform her of her right to counsel upon detention and her and her family’s right to know the name and location of the designated quarantine facility she was being taken to. .The Canadian government implemented measures allowing it to quarantine people deemed unable to in government-approved facilities. People who did not have proof of a negative PCR test upon entry to Canada were considered unable to quarantine. .The release said applicant Steve Duesing went to the United States in 2020 to visit his girlfriend. It said the measures were not in effect when Duesing departed. .When he returned in 2021, border agents informed him he would have to take a PCR test and quarantine in a designated facility for 48 to 72 hours for it to come back. His passport was confiscated until he agreed to go to the facility, and he was told he would be arrested if he did not comply. .The release went on to say Mathis returned to Canada by air in 2021. It added upon arriving at the airport, Mathis was told the antigen test she took was unacceptable, as it had to be a PCR test. .She was directed to quarantine at a government facility until she received a negative test, and she was told police would arrest and take her to one by force if she did not comply. Police refused to tell her husband where she was being taken. .It was revealed in September quarantine hotels across Canada were costing taxpayers several million dollars each month, with most having low occupancy rates..READ MORE: EXCLUSIVE: Feds still spending millions on nearly empty COVID-19 quarantine hotels.The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) confirmed the federal government procured 36 hotels since 2020 as quarantine facilities. .The daily room rates ranged between $49 and $220 per night. Based on an average of the room rates totalling $135, the cost to taxpayers for the federal government to procure the rooms is almost $210,000 per night. .The Office of the Auditor General of Canada released a report in 2021 about PHAC implementing and enforcing quarantine of air travellers at government-authorized hotels pending the results of their COVID-19 tests. The auditor general said while “the Public Health Agency of Canada improved its verification of compliance with 14-day quarantine orders, it did not adequately enforce additional border control measures imposed to limit the introduction of the virus that causes COVID-19 and its variants into Canada.” .Since the Auditor General of Canada report was not available at the time of trial, the release said JCCF lawyers brought a motion to have it admitted at the Federal Court of Appeal. It said the motion will be decided the same day as the hearing on the merits..Parmar said the Canadian government “should not be immune from accountability for breaching thousands of Canadians’ Charter rights and freedoms.” She said the court has the discretion to hear a case about mootness if the issue is in the public interest. .“The public will lose confidence in the administration of justice if the courts shield a nationwide scheme that detains law-abiding citizens and that engages several Charter rights,” she said.
