Over the past seven months, police have issued 77 fines and charged seven people for violating Canada’s Quarantine Act, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada.
PHAC said that since the act took effect in late March, more than one million people who entered Canada were required to quarantine for 14 days. The agency said it had flagged more than 247,000 of those travellers to police as potential quarantine violators.
RCMP officers issued the majority of the fines, which ranged from $275 to $1,275. Individuals can either pay their fine or contest it in court. Anyone charged — typically for a more serious offence — must appear in court.
Under the Quarantine Act, both Canadians and foreigners entering Canada must quarantine for 14 days, unless they get a special exemption.
Last month, Ontario Premier Doug Ford complained publicly that not enough people were being punished for breaching the act.
“The system’s broken,” he said. “We can’t have our police running around and seeing people breaking quarantine and nothing happens to them.… It turns into being a joke.”
Ford said that he planned to work with the federal government to fix the problem.
WATCH | Premier Ford says Canada’s Quarantine Act ‘broken’:
Calling penalties a ‘slap on the wrist,’ Ontario Premier Doug Ford said the current Quarantine Act for people arriving in Canada during the pandemic is broken and needs to change. 2:14
In response to Ford’s criticism, PHAC said police are responsible for enforcing the Quarantine Act, and that enforcement actions can include a written or verbal warning.
The RCMP declined to respond directly to Ford’s comments but told CBC News that officers aren’t eager to dole out fines to everyone violating COVID-19-related regulations.
“The RCMP’s focus remains on educating and encouraging members of the public who may not be following the measures set out by public health authorities,” said spokesperson Robin Percival in an email.
“Enforcement is a last resort, but one that can be used if the circumstances warrant.”
Who’s facing charges?
CBC News was able to obtain information from police on five individuals who were charged under the Quarantine Act. Most face penalties of up to six months in jail and/or fines of up to $750,000. Each person is set to appear in court at the end of this month or next month.
One of the most recent cases involves a 53-year-old woman from Ottawa who works in a long-term care home. Police said she went back to work just four days after returning to Canada on Sept. 26 from a trip abroad.
Police didn’t provide the woman’s name or the name of her workplace.
The woman was charged on Oct. 2 for allegedly failing to comply with the 14-day quarantine requirement and for causing risk of imminent death or serious bodily harm.
Chris Saccoccia, seen here during a protest against mandatory mask measures on the TTC, was fined $1,000 for contravening the Quarantine Act, police say. Despite the fine, Saccoccia attended an anti-lockdown rally in downtown Toronto on Oct. 3. (Evan Mitsui/CBC)
Outspoken anti-masker Chris Saccoccia, 37, of King City, Ont., and his wife, Jennifer, 34, were charged on Oct. 5 for allegedly defying the quarantine rules.
According to Toronto police, the couple had returned to Canada from abroad on Sept. 20. Just six days later, police fined Saccoccia $1,000 after he attended an anti-mask/anti-lockdown rally in downtown Toronto.
Police said Saccoccia and his wife were then charged after they attended another Toronto rally 13 days after their return to Canada. This rally was “attended by 500 non-mask wearing participants,” police said in a statement.
Saccoccia told CBC News in a written message that he’s looking forward to filing a challenge against the quarantine rules, which he claims violate Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
“Even under extreme, emergency situations, justification to violate our rights must be presented,” said Saccoccia.
Alaska driver charged
A fourth case involves a man from Kentucky who was driving through Canada from Alaska.
Although the Canada-U.S border is closed to non-essential traffic, Canada allows Americans to drive through the country to or from Alaska. But they can’t make unnecessary stops along the way.
Alberta RCMP said John Pennington, 40, was initially given a $1,200 ticket on June 25 for stopping in Banff National Park on his way to the continental U.S.
Police say Pennington had not left town the following day, as ordered, so he was charged for allegedly breaching the Quarantine Act.
John Pennington of Kentucky has received both a fine and been charged for stopping in Banff while driving from Alaska through Alberta to the continental U.S. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press)
CBC News asked Pennington for an interview, but he didn’t respond. In June, he posted a video on Facebook, detailing his Banff experience but recently removed it.
In the fifth case, Yukon RCMP said a man was charged on July 6 in Beaver Creek, Yukon, for allegedly returning to Canada from abroad and not quarantining for 14 days. RCMP said officers were alerted to the case after the man was sighted at the local post office.
According to Statistics Canada, RCMP responded to more than 9,500 incidents between March and June where people violated provincial or territorial COVID-19-related regulations.
OTTAWA – The New Democrats confirmed Thursday they won’t help Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives topple the government next week, and intend to join the Bloc Québécois in blocking the Tories’ non-confidence motion.
The planned votes from the Bloc and the New Democrats eliminate the possibility of a snap election, buying the Liberals more time to govern after a raucous start to the fall sitting of Parliament.
Poilievre issued a challenge to NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh earlier this week when he announced he will put forward a motion that simply states that the House has no confidence in the government or the prime minister.
If it were to pass, it would likely mean Canadians would be heading to the polls, but Singh said Thursday he’s not going to let Poilievre tell him what to do.
Voting against the Conservative motion doesn’t mean the NDP support the Liberals, said Singh, who pulled out of his political pact with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a few weeks ago.
“I stand by my words, Trudeau has let you down,” Singh said in the foyer outside of the House of Commons Thursday.
“Trudeau has let you down and does not deserve another chance.”
Canadians will have to make that choice at the ballot box, Singh said, but he will make a decision about whether to help trigger that election on a vote-by-vote basis in the House.
The Conservatives mocked the NDP during Question Period for saying they had “ripped up” the deal to support the Liberals, despite plans to vote to keep them in power.
Poilievre accused Singh of pretending to pull out of the deal to sway voters in a federal byelection in Winnipeg, where the NDP was defending its long-held seat against the Conservatives.
“Once the votes were counted, he betrayed them again. He’s a fake, a phoney and fraud. How can anyone ever believe what the sellout NDP leader says in the future?” Poilievre said during Question Period Thursday afternoon.
At some point after those comments, Singh stepped out from behind his desk in the House and a two-minute shouting match ensued between the two leaders and their MPs before the Speaker intervened.
Outside the House, Poilievre said he plans to put forward another non-confidence motion at the next opportunity.
“We want a carbon-tax election as soon as possible, so that we can axe Trudeau’s tax before he quadruples it to 61 cents a litre,” he said.
Liberal House leader Karina Gould says there is much work the government still needs to do, and that Singh has realized the consequences of potentially bringing down the government. She refused to take questions about whether her government will negotiate with opposition parties to ensure their support in future confidence motions.
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet hasn’t ruled out voting no-confidence in the government the next time a motion is tabled.
“I never support Liberals. Help me God, I go against the Conservatives on a vote that is only about Pierre Poilievre and his huge ambition for himself,” Blanchet said Thursday.
“I support the interests of Quebecers, if those interests are also good for Canadians.”
A Bloc bill to increase pension cheques for seniors aged 65 to 74 is now at “the very centre of the survival of this government,” he said.
The Bloc needs a recommendation from a government minister to OK the cost and get the bill through the House.
The Bloc also wants to see more protections for supply management in the food sector in Canada and Quebec.
If the Liberals can’t deliver on those two things, they will fall, Blanchet said.
“This is what we call power,” he said.
Treasury Board President Anita Anand wouldn’t say whether the government would be willing to swallow the financial implications of the Bloc’s demands.
“We are focused at Treasury Board on ensuring prudent fiscal management,” she said Thursday.
“And at this time, our immediate focus is implementing the measures in budget 2024 that were announced earlier this year.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
OTTAWA – Treasury Board President Anita Anand has been sworn in as federal transport minister at a ceremony at Rideau Hall, taking over a portfolio left vacant after Pablo Rodriguez resigned from cabinet and the Liberal caucus on Thursday.
Anand thanked Rodriguez for his contributions to the government and the country, saying she’s grateful for his guidance and friendship.
She sidestepped a question about the message it sends to have him leave the federal Liberal fold.
“That is a decision that he made independently, and I wish him well,” she said.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was not present for the swearing-in ceremony, nor were any other members of the Liberal government.
The shakeup in cabinet comes just days after the Liberals lost a key seat in a Montreal byelection to the Bloc Québécois and amid renewed calls for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to step down and make way for a new leader.
Anand said she is not actively seeking leadership of the party, saying she is focused on her roles as minister and as MP.
“My view is that we are a team, and we are a team that has to keep delivering for our country,” she said.
The minority Liberal government is in a more challenging position in the House of Commons after the NDP ended a supply-and-confidence deal that provided parliamentary stability for more than two years.
Non-confidence votes are guaranteed to come from the Opposition Conservatives, who are eager to bring the government down.
On Thursday morning, Rodriguez made a symbolic walk over the Alexandra Bridge from Parliament Hill to Gatineau, Que., where he formally announced his plans to run for the Quebec Liberal party leadership.
He said he will now sit as an Independent member of Parliament, which will allow him to focus on his own priorities.
“I was defending the priorities of the government, and I did it in a very loyal way,” he said.
“It’s normal and it’s what I had to do. But now it’s more about my vision, the vision of the team that I’m building.”
Rodriguez said he will stay on as an MP until the Quebec Liberal leadership campaign officially launches in January.
He said that will “avoid a costly byelection a few weeks, or months, before a general election.”
The next federal election must be held by October 2025.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said he will try to topple the government sooner than that, beginning with a non-confidence motion that is set to be debated Sept. 24 and voted on Sept. 25.
Poilievre has called on the NDP and the Bloc Québécois to support him, but both Jagmeet Singh and Yves-François Blanchet have said they will not support the Conservatives.
Rodriguez said he doesn’t want a federal election right away and will vote against the non-confidence motion.
As for how he would vote on other matters before the House of Commons, “it would depend on the votes.”
Public Services and Procurement Minister Jean-Yves Duclos will become the government’s new Quebec lieutenant, a non-cabinet role Rodriguez held since 2019.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
— With files from Nojoud Al Mallees and Dylan Robertson
