A Winnipeg woman says she was forced to quarantine after returning to Canada from a U.S. vacation despite having two vaccines and a booster, a negative PCR test, and all of her paperwork.
Debi Ellement was returning from a trip to Arizona with her husband Mark earlier this month, and expected a smooth crossing at the border, but an issue with her ArriveCAN app caused unexpected problems.
“I had uploaded our passports and our vaccination data to the app before I left town, and I took copies of our vaccination reports with us, because I’d heard there were issues,” she told Global News.
“I got my husband’s arrival information in, and he got his QR code … and I realized it didn’t take mine. I couldn’t get my information in the app.”
2:12 Travel expected to pick up after Canada eases border measures
Travel expected to pick up after Canada eases border measures – Feb 15, 2022
Ellement said there were no relevant ‘help’ options on the ArriveCAN app to navigate the problem, but since she had all of the necessary documents in physical form, she wasn’t expecting an issue.
“When I got to the border, the border guard took our passports and he took our negative test information, and he looked at Mark’s QR code and said, ‘Where’s yours?’”
He gave her the choice to go back to the States or face 14 days quarantine in Canada.
“I was quite stunned. I have everything I need to cross the border. I’ve got my vaxx papers in my hand.”
According to Ellement, the officer refused to help her with the app, and when she asked if there was someone else in the border office who could help, he gave her the same answer.
“This guy told me I was a threat to Canada because I couldn’t use an app.”
Debi and Mark Ellement on vacation in Arizona.
Submitted / Debi Ellement
Although Ellement’s two-week quarantine ended Friday, she says she’s concerned other Canadians will encounter the same difficulties when it comes to relying on the app.
“I’m disheartened, I’m disillusioned, frustrated … there was nobody to appeal to. I did all the things they said to do, I did the tests. They were all negative. And there was just no recourse. This is just not right.
“Maybe I’m the one who caused the problem. I don’t know, but it’s a computer app. I’m a Canadian citizen, with all of the requirements to enter my country.
“I asked that young man to help, and that was a big fat no… I say scrap the app. It’s stupid. You’re not keeping Canada safe from people who can’t use a computer.”
Ellement said she was able to handle the quarantine, although she was frustrated to be stuck in the house for two weeks unnecessarily. Her husband, who she spent the entire trip with, and had the same test results, wasn’t under the same restrictions.
“I’ve been kind of up and down, feeling very futile on occasion. It’s Winnipeg, it’s winter, but it’s been very difficult knowing I can’t go out of the house. I couldn’t see my granddaughter and that’s a big one for me.
“I want the people who are coming home to be able to come home without quarantining because they couldn’t do the computer app,” she said. “If they meet all the requirements to come to Canada, what are we doing?
A spokesperson for the Canada Border Services Agency told Global News that border officers have some options to help Canadians traveling by land to use the app.
“They can help land travelers comply with the requirement to submit their information digitally by allowing the traveller to return to the U.S. to take the time to complete the ArriveCAN form and re-enter Canada after submitting it,” the spokesperson said.
“Also, where operations make it possible to do so, they can allow the traveler to complete their ArriveCAN submission upon arrival at ports of entry.”
Information can be provided verbally at the border or completing a paper form if you’re a person with accessibility needs who can’t access the app or there’s no Internet access on a country-level in the location you’re travelling from.
Special exceptions also apply to refugees and asylum seekers.
For those Canadians who don’t have access a smartphone or the app, there’s an alternate option. A lesser-known web version of ArriveCAN exists and can be accessed on desktop computers, laptops, tablets, etc.
Global News has reached out to the federal public safety minister for comment.
2:12 Travel expected to pick up after Canada eases border measures
Travel expected to pick up after Canada eases border measures – Feb 15, 2022
EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.
Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.
Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.
Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.
Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.
RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.
Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.
“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.
But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.
“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.
While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.
Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.
The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.
It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.
Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.
The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, have broken off without an agreement following 15 hours of talks.
Joe McCann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they stayed at the bargaining table with help from a mediator until 2 a.m. Friday and made “some progress.”
However, he says the union negotiators didn’t get an offer that they could recommend to the membership.
McCann says that in some ways they are close to an agreement, but in other areas they are “miles apart.”
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people who can’t navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last week, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
McCann asks HandyDART users to be “patient,” since they are trying to get not only a fair contract for workers but also a better service for customers.
He says it’s unclear when the talks will resume, but he hopes next week at the latest.
The employer, Transdev, didn’t reply to an interview request before publication.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
