As the world continues to grapple with the novel coronavirus pandemic, many countries — including Canada — have closed their borders and have implemented stringent travel measures.
But as the number of cases in Canada continues to rise, many are wondering if it may be time to restrict travel between provinces and territories to stem the spread of the virus.
On Sunday, Yukon reported its first two cases of COVID-19.
As a result, Yukon’s chief medical officer, Dr. Brendan Hanley, “strongly” advised that all non-essential travel into and out of Yukon be suspended.
2:18 Coronavirus outbreak: Trudeau announces Canada to spend $192M on developing COVID-19 vaccine
Coronavirus outbreak: Trudeau announces Canada to spend $192M on developing COVID-19 vaccine
Asked by reporters if the federal government is looking into implementing such restrictions Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he is scheduled to speak with premiers Monday evening about “measures that we can take as a country to move forward.”
Story continues below advertisement
“I look forward to that conversation,” he said.
Should the government limit travel between provinces and territories? How would it be enforced?
It also affords citizens and permanent residents the right to “move to and take up residence in any province and to purse to gaining of a livelihood in any province.”
But Emmett Macfarlane, a political science professor from the University of Waterloo, said there have been “very few instances” where the government has been able to infringe on these rights.
He said in this case, the courts might allow a ban on non-essential travel between provinces if the government could demonstrate a significant risk of spreading COVID-19.
“So the context of a health emergency certainly provides the government with the reasonable limit argument,” he said. “But the government probably wants to look at the evidence about how many people are unnecessarily travelling between provinces right now.”
Story continues below advertisement
One way the government could implement such restrictions is by declaring a federal emergency and implementing the Emergencies Act.
The act would give the government the right to regulate or prohibit travel to, from or within areas “where necessary for the protection of health and safety of individuals.”
1:01 Coronavirus outbreak: Trudeau not ready to use the Emergencies Act yet
Coronavirus outbreak: Trudeau not ready to use the Emergencies Act yet
However, MacFarlane says any federal rule brought in under the Emergencies Act would require provincial implementation.
“So the federal government can set a rule, but it is often at the whim of the province to see it implemented, and that would definitely be the case here,” he said. “If they’re thinking about it, then they almost certainly have discussed this with the provinces, at least as an option.”
But on Sunday, Trudeau said Canada was not in a position where implementing the Emergencies Act was necessary, saying the federal government was continuing to “work closely” with its provincial counterparts.
Is closing provincial borders necessary?
Craig Janes, director of the school of public health at the University of Waterloo, said Canada should be restricting travel between provinces and territories.
He said with community spread, the number of cases could increase “exponentially.”
“Anything that we can do to just stop people moving around is going to reduce the amount of transmission and slow it,” Janes said. “And that gives health systems the ability to respond without getting overwhelmed.”
Story continues below advertisement
According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, as of 11 a.m. ET on Monday, there were more than 1,400 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Canada, with the majority of infections reported in Ontario and B.C.
However, MacFarlane said the government is likely taking more of a “wait and see approach.”
He said in a week or so, the country will have a better idea whether the current social distancing measures in place have been effective.
“I think if we see the rate of spread continue to climb, particularly if it continues to climb in that exponential way, then the government’s going to have to start to look at more stringent measures and more draconian rules to try to deal with that,” he said. “If we see things start to flatten out, then it may be unnecessary to bring in these more severe measures.”
1:05 Coronavirus outbreak: Trudeau tells Canadians ‘it’s going to get bad’
Coronavirus outbreak: Trudeau tells Canadians ‘it’s going to get bad’
How would it be enforced?
According to MacFarlane, if the government does choose to restrict travel, enforcement would fall to provincial and federal police authorities.
But, while it would be easy for police to monitor major highways and routes, MacFarlane said the measures would be “quite difficult,” to enforce.
He said it would be impossible to stop everyone who is “determined to break the law.”
“We’re talking about such enormous stretches of land between the various provinces, that it would be quite difficult,” he said.
5:02 COVID-19 sparks food supply concerns
COVID-19 sparks food supply concerns
Janes too said enforcement will never be 100 per cent effective, but that the government can convince citizens to comply by “communicating clearly” why the measures are necessary and important.
“I think this is really critical in this case,” he said.
Would travel restrictions between provinces impact the flow of goods?
In an email to Global News, Marc Fortin, president at the Retail Council of Canada in Quebec said they “don’t expect there will be a big impact on food supply” if travel restrictions between provinces were to be implemented.
“There will be previsions in place by governments, similar to the U.S. restrictions which apply to people but not commerce, to maintain the flow of services and goods, especially if they are essential like food and pharma,” he wrote.
Fortin said regionally there may be a shift in buying patterns in places such as Ottawa and Gatineau, because Canadians won’t cross from one province to another to shop.
Demands for government intervention in Air Canada labour talks could negatively affect airline competition in Canada, the CEO of travel company Transat AT Inc. said.
“The extension of such an extraordinary intervention to Air Canada would be an undeniable competitive advantage to the detriment of other Canadian airlines,” Annick Guérard told analysts on an earnings conference call on Thursday.
“The time and urgency is now. It is time to restore healthy competition in Canada,” she added.
Air Canada has asked the federal government to be ready to intervene and request arbitration as early as this weekend to avoid disruptions.
Comments on the potential Air Canada pilot strike or lock out came as Transat reported third-quarter financial results.
Guérard recalled Transat’s labour negotiations with its flight attendants earlier this year, which the company said it handled without asking for government intervention.
The airline’s 2,100 flight attendants voted 99 per cent in favour of a strike mandate and twice rejected tentative deals before approving a new collective agreement in late February.
As the collective agreement for Air Transat pilots ends in June next year, Guérard anticipates similar pressure to increase overall wages as seen in Air Canada’s negotiations, but reckons it will come out “as a win, win, win deal.”
“The pilots are preparing on their side, we are preparing on our side and we’re confident that we’re going to come up with a reasonable deal,” she told analysts when asked about the upcoming negotiations.
The parent company of Air Transat reported it lost $39.9 million or $1.03 per diluted share in its quarter ended July 31. The result compared with a profit of $57.3 million or $1.49 per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue totalled $736.2 million, down from $746.3 million in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Transat says it lost $1.10 per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of $1.10 per share a year earlier.
It attributed reduced revenues to lower airline unit revenues, competition, industry-wide overcapacity and economic uncertainty.
Air Transat is also among the airlines facing challenges related to the recall of Pratt & Whitney turbofan jet engines for inspection and repair.
The recall has so far grounded six aircraft, Guérard said on the call.
“We have agreed to financial compensation for grounded aircraft during the 2023-2024 period,” she said. “Alongside this financial compensation, Pratt & Whitney will provide us with two additional spare engines, which we intend to monetize through a sell and lease back transaction.”
Looking ahead, the CEO said she expects consumer demand to remain somewhat uncertain amid high interest rates.
“We are currently seeing ongoing pricing pressure extending into the winter season,” she added. Air Transat is not planning on adding additional aircraft next year but anticipates stability.
“(2025) for us will be much more stable than 2024 in terms of fleet movements and operation, and this will definitely have a positive effect on cost and customer satisfaction as well,” the CEO told analysts.
“We are more and more moving away from all the disruption that we had to go through early in 2024,” she added.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
