There may be legal grounds to fight hotel quarantine, lawyer says

A lawyer with the Canadian Civil Liberties Association says some air passengers who refuse to comply with the mandatory hotel quarantine upon arrival in Canada may have a legal ground to stand on.

As CityNews has been reporting, the federal three-day hotel quarantine rules are being ignored by some Canadians.

Those individuals say that prior to walking out of the airport, officials did tell them to expect a hefty ticket in the mail.

“People who believe that these rules are inappropriate, particularly when applied to their circumstances, have every right to fight these tickets,” said Cara Zwibel, director of Fundamental Freedoms Program at the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.

“I can’t predict what a court will do with them but I do think there are good arguments here to point out the arbitrariness of some of these rules. The fact that if I had entered by land I wouldn’t have to quarantine so how is it that I’m such a danger because I’ve entered by air? People who say, ‘I have a perfectly good place to isolate at home.’”

Zwibel also notes that in some cases, the government’s rules seem counterintuitive to public health.

“Flights have been limited to the four airports for international flights, so you’re going to have people who’re going to have to do the hotel quarantine in one city and then potentially fly to another city to actually get home and that again puts them in a situation in which they’re exposed to more people, in an airplane, than they would be if they had just gone directly home.”

As well, since a hotel stay could cost up to $2,000 out of pocket, some may see a financial incentive to disobey. It’s also unclear how much people will have to pay in fines.

“The cost of compliance could be greater than the cost of non-compliance in some cases,” Zwibel said.

She says the result of any court case may depend on the judge and the specific circumstances.

CityNews reached out to Health Canada to inquire about the average cost of fines issued to people who dodged hotel quarantines, as well as how many tickets have been issued so far. We have yet to receive a response to those questions.