A total of 1,790 people entering Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic have received special ministerial permission to skip quarantine — because their trip was deemed in the national interest.
The bulk of the exemptions — 84 per cent — were granted to professional sports league players and staff, and 15 per cent were given to business travellers.
When Canada closed its borders to non-essential travel in late March, it required incoming travellers to quarantine for 14 days as a safety precaution.
Many essential workers are exempt from the requirement.
And, under federal rules, three ministers — Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne, Public Safety Minister Bill Blair and Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino — have the power to exempt visitors from quarantine, if their case is “in the national interest.”
The ministers’ quarantine exemptions are made in consultation with the Public Health Agency of Canada and local health authorities. Those exempt must follow mandated health measures such as mask wearing and physical distancing.
The government hasn’t publicly defined what type of cases qualify as being “in the national interest.” As a result, the quarantine exemptions have sparked concerns about the approval process.
“Just to say something’s in the national interest is not good enough,” said Jack Harris, MP for St. John’s East and the NDP’s public safety critic. “It’s a matter of judgment and the question is, is the judgment being exercised properly?”
CBC News asked each of the three ministers’ departments — Global Affairs, Immigration, and Public Safety — for details about their national interest quarantine exemptions, including why they were granted.
Global Affairs exemptions
Global Affairs said the department has granted 273 quarantine exemptions.
The vast majority — 265 — were “business mobility exemptions” which were given to business travellers to do specific work or tasks in Canada “deemed to be in the national interest,” said spokesperson Ciara Trudeau in an email.
“They have to thoroughly justify the immediacy of their purpose of travel to Canada.”
The approval process was called into question after CBC News reported that Global Affairs granted a quarantine exemption to UPS executive Nando Cesarone for a business trip to Toronto in October.
Nando Cesarone, president of U.S. operations for UPS, travelled from Atlanta to Toronto in October and spent three days meeting with Canadian employees. (Charles Platiau/Reuters)
Cesarone, the president of U.S. operations for global shipping giant UPS, used the business trip to lobby Ontario employees to accept the company’s new contract offer.
The workers’ union said it was mystified why Cesarone was allowed to enter Canada and skip quarantine.
“We believe the government needs to explain itself on that one,” said Christopher Monette, public affairs director for Teamsters Canada.
Global Affairs declined to comment, citing the federal Privacy Act.
WATCH | UPS executive given exemption to Canada’s quarantine:
CBC News has learned that a UPS executive is among the 191 business travellers who received a special ministerial exemption to Canada’s mandatory 14-day quarantine period. 2:14
In regards to the reasons behind its 265 “business mobility exemptions,” Global Affairs initially provided only a general explanation, citing the Privacy Act.
After CBC News pressed for more information, spokesperson Trudeau said the exemptions were granted to individuals in industries such as film, aerospace, manufacturing and energy “to support Canadian jobs and Canada’s economic recovery.”
She said 250 of the exemptions were granted to licensed pilots and aerospace workers, some of whom needed to enter Canada for training. For others, she said, their presence was “contractually required to finalize the sale and delivery of a Canadian-built aircraft.”
Sports gave ‘Canadians some ‘normalcy”
Immigration Minister Mendicino’s office said he has granted quarantine exemptions for 1,503 professional athletes and staff with the National Hockey League, Major League Soccer and Major League Baseball.
The soccer and baseball players entered Canada for training only. The NHL, which hosted games in Canada, segregated players and staff from the general public in controlled zones — known as “bubbles.”
“Within strict health and safety constraints, these exemptions were granted to support economic growth and recovery, and to give Canadians some ‘normalcy’ during an incredibly difficult time,” said Alexander Cohen, press secretary to Minister Mendicino.
National Hockey League players were among those who received quarantine exemptions from Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino’s department. (Getty Images)
Public Safety Minister Bill Blair’s office said he has granted quarantine exemptions to 14 people. Recipients included three employees in the shipbuilding industry and five American General Motors representatives engaged in contract talks to ratify a new agreement for Ontario workers.
The workers’ union, Unifor, told CBC News the in-person contract negotiations were necessary and that COVID-19 safety precautions were taken.
Compassionate exemptions
To be sure, the number of national interest exemptions is small compared with how many essential workers and others have entered Canada since March without being required to quarantine. That number totals more than five million, according to the Canada Border Services Agency.
However, giving exemptions to business executives does rankle Chris McDonald, who feels he had to fight to see his brother before he died.
On Oct. 8, the federal government loosened its travel restrictions to allow some travellers in quarantine to temporarily break it for compassionate reasons, such as visiting a dying relative.
Dean McDonald, left, died of terminal cancer on Oct. 20. His brother Chris McDonald, right, got approval to break quarantine and visit Dean just days before his medically assisted death. (Submitted by Chris McDonald)
The day after the rule change, Chris McDonald — who lives in California — applied for a quarantine exemption to immediately visit his terminally ill brother Dean in Winnipeg.
After repeated follow-up calls and emails to the government, and sharing his story with CBC News, McDonald got approval on Oct. 15 — just days before his brother passed away.
“That was very, very stressful, very frustrating, and really a lot of heartache because I felt like I might not get to see my brother,” he said.
McDonald said he was disappointed to hear about the UPS executive who got to skip quarantine for a business trip.
“Everything that he did could have been done over Zoom,” suggested McDonald. “I had to be there with my brother to … hold his hand, be by his side.”
HOUSTON (AP) — Brian White scored in the second half to rally the Vancouver Whitecaps to a 1-1 draw with the Houston Dynamo on Wednesday night.
Houston (12-9-8) took a 1-0 lead into halftime after Ezequiel Ponce scored on a penalty kick in the seventh minute of stoppage time. Ponce’s third goal this season came after Amine Bassi drew a foul on Whitecaps midfielder Pedro Vite following a video review. It was Ponce’s sixth career appearance, all starts.
Vancouver (13-8-7) scored the equalizer in the 73rd minute when White, who entered in the 60th, used assists from Fafá Picault and Ryan Gauld to find the net for the 13th time this season. Picault’s assist was his fifth, matching his career high for a single season. Gauld’s assist gives him a career-best 13 on the season.
Yohei Takaoka, who had clean sheets in his last three starts, finished with one save in goal for the Whitecaps.
Steve Clark saved three shots for the Dynamo, who remain one point behind Vancouver in the Western Conference standings.
Houston, which was coming off a 4-1 victory over Real Salt Lake, has allowed just 33 goals this season.
Vancouver — 6-2-2 in its last 10 matches overall — leads the all-time series 10-9-6.
The Whitecaps remain on the road to play the Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday. The Dynamo travel to play Austin FC on Saturday.
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Tom Pearce and Nathan Saliba scored in the second half — the first goals of their careers — and CF Montreal rallied for a 2-2 draw with the New England Revolution on Wednesday night.
“In the second half, the guys came out a little more ambitious and above all, more connected,” Montreal head coach Laurent Courtois said. “It was a great second half of resilience and fighting spirit. Nathan and Sam were impressive.
“Impressive in covering the gaps and compensating for the teammates, and the individual defending – yes it’s true, it is a lot of weight on their shoulders, but that’s the job.”
New England (8-16-4) jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 24th minute on Bobby Wood’s third goal of the season. Teenage defender Peyton Miller notched his first assist in his fourth career start and sixth appearance and Carles Gil picked up his ninth of the season. Peyton, at 16 years, 315 days old, is the eighth youngest player in league history to record his first assist.
The Revolution took a two-goal lead in the 35th minute and held it through halftime when 19-year-old Esmir Bajraktarevic took a pass from Gil and scored his third goal of the season and career in his first full season in the league. It was the 73rd regular-season assist in Gil’s career, tying him with Steve Ralston for the most in club history.
Montreal (7-12-10) pulled within a goal in the 54th minute when Pearce scored off a free kick after defender George Campbell drew a foul on New England’s Mark-Anthony Kaye. It was the first goal for Pearce in his third career start and fourth appearance.
“Playoffs are the goal. Maybe it wasn’t in the best form, but in the end, we are picking up a point,” Pearce said. “We came into this game confident, ready to play our own game. Everyone tries their best, whenever the players are called on, we are always ready, and we are always giving it our best.”
Montreal scored the equalizer in the 68th minute on the first career goal by Saliba, a 20-year-old midfielder. Saliba has made 34 starts and 48 appearances with Montreal in his two seasons in the league. Campbell snagged his second assist of the season and the third of his career.
“It’s an incredible feeling, it’s a goal I’ve been waiting for a long time. I’m extremely happy that I was able to score it and that it can help the team take this important point on the road,” Saliba said. “Pearce’s first goal gave us really good momentum and we kept up the pressure to go for a second goal. We got more solid defensively, and we came back ready after halftime, to push for these 3 points.”
Aljaz Ivacic finished with four saves in goal for the Revolution.
Jonathan Sirois stopped four shots for Montreal.
New England beat Montreal 5-0 on the road on Aug. 24.
New England leads the all-time series 16-13-4. Montreal improves to 5-8-2 on the road against the Revs.
The Revolution travel to take on Charlotte FC on Saturday. Montreal returns home to host the Chicago Fire on Saturday.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Adolis García hit a two-run home run in the sixth inning, Cody Bradford pitched seven strong innings after the worst start of his career, and the Texas Rangers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 2-0 on Wednesday night.
The win kept the defending World Series-champion Rangers alive in the AL West race, trailing first-place Houston by 10 games with 10 to play.
García launched an inside sinker over the left-field wall off Toronto starter Bowden Francis (8-5) after Wyatt Langford singled.
“He swings hard, he swings a lot,” Francis said of García. “I guess the velo was dropping during that time.”
Bradford (6-3) allowed five hits and no walks while striking out six.
The seven shutout innings are the most in a game during his two-year career. He was knocked out of his previous start after allowing career highs in hits (nine), runs (eight) and homers (three) in 3 2/3 innings in a 14-4 loss at Arizona.
“Throughout the week, you’ve got to try and digest what happened, see where I can make adjustments, whether it was just game plan went wrong or just poor execution, or a little bit of both,” Bradford said. “Then you flush it.”
Bradford was perfect through four innings before Alejandro Kirk opened the fifth with a smash back to the mound that caromed off Bradford’s left foot and rolled into right field for a single. It extended Kirk’s hitting streak to a career-high 12 games.
Spencer Horwitz’s double to left-center put runners on second and third with no outs before Bradford retired the next three batters.
Blue Jays manager John Schneider credited Bradford’s “deceptive fastball.”
“When you’re throwing 89, 92, you’ve got to have pretty good deception with that at this level,” Schneider said. “Kept us off balance.”
Kirby Yates pitched a perfect ninth inning for his 31st save in 32 opportunities.
Francis, who took no-hitters into the ninth inning in two of his previous four starts, allowed a double to Marcus Semien, the Rangers’ first hitter of the game. He gave up five hits and one walk in six innings.
Francis has a 1.96 ERA in nine starts with 54 strikeouts and seven walks since being moved back into the starting rotation in late July.
“I don’t even want to get complacent, on cruise control,” Francis said. “Just keep attacking.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Blue Jays: SS Bo Bichette was a late scratch with a right middle finger contusion suffered during infield practice. Schneider said the team will get back x-rays on Thursday. Bichette was activated Tuesday following a calf injury and played for the first time in two months, going 2 for 5 with one RBI at the plate. … INF Will Wagner (left knee inflammation) will have the knee scoped on Thursday. Schneider said Wagner should be ready to start spring training. Wagner, son of former major leaguer Billy Wagner, was acquired from Houston at the trade deadline.
UP NEXT
Rangers rookie RHP Kumar Rocker (0-0, 2.25 ERA) will make his home debut against Blue Jays RHP Kevin Gausman (12-11, 4.02) in the series finale. Rocker allowed one run in four innings at Seattle last Thursday in his major league debut.
