COVID-19 measures have been gone at the borders for a year now, but Quebecers who have been abroad while they were in effect continue to face hefty fines. Many now feel they were cheated when they returned home.
Posted at 5:00 am.
In January 2022, Samia Plante is heading to Hartford, Connecticut before flying to Florida. “The pandemic was difficult and we wanted to have a good time as a family,” says the mother of two children.
“We knew the travel conditions very well. We had set our dates [à la clinique de prélèvement] before we even left,” she said. At that time, you had to present a PCR test taken within 48 hours upon entry, but the conditions were constantly changing, which caused some confusion (see box).
That’s why Ms. Plante, her partner François Gravel and their two children are being tested in Fort Lauderdale before flying back to Hartford. However, it took longer than the usual 48 hours for the results of the little family’s tests to become known. When she arrived at the Canadian land border, she was advised to wait for the results to arrive, which she did. She was assured that she would express “her cooperation and goodwill”.
Unfortunately, the next day we still hadn’t received any results. We knew we could still enter the country, which we decided to do by submitting to all the requirements imposed on us.
Samia Plante
Ms Plante admits that she was then informed of the possibility of a fine and received a notice of non-compliance. “It would be wrong to say they didn’t tell us. » What she complains about, however, is the lack of transparency at the border.
“We were given verbal information that we had behaved in an exemplary manner and that there was no need to worry that it was a formality to notify us. » But 18 months later, Ms. Plante and her partner each received felony charges, along with a $5,000 fine and $1,250 in costs. The children were spared.
She and her husband have since pleaded not guilty. The Crown offered to pay only one of the two fines, which they declined. Her case is scheduled to be heard in court in early November.
“Like two prisoners”
The unpleasant surprise came for Mariette Lauzon when she returned from a trip to France in November 2021. Knowing full well that she would have to undergo a PCR test to return to the country, she went to a pharmacy in Provence shortly before her return flight with her husband, Serge Blaquière.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY MARIETTE LAUZON
Mariette Lauzon and her partner Serge Blaquière
There they meet a pharmacist where they ask for a PCR test – necessary, they say, for their return to Canada. However, the pharmacist will carry out antigen tests instead.
We had never taken a COVID test. They inserted a cotton swab into our nose, we were convinced it was the right test!
Mariette Lauzon
The couple’s streak of bad luck doesn’t end there. Upon arrival at the airport, the Air France employee responsible for checking his documents did not notice anything unusual. “If he had told us that we didn’t have the right test, we could have postponed our flight and taken a new test at the airport,” Ms. Lauzon said. In addition, she and Mr Blaquière will receive a ready2fly boarding pass, which will allow them to avoid further controls during their connecting flight in Paris.
So they cross the Atlantic calmly until they arrive in Montreal. There, a border official noticed that the couple’s negative results did not come from PCR tests, but from antigen tests. “We were sent to a small room for several hours; we were like two prisoners,” says Mariette Lauzon.
Because the couple don’t have the proper tests, they face $5,000 in fines, it is said. If there is non-compliance, he will receive notices. However, here again the impression is that we were deceived: “We were told that it was just a formality.” We understood that we shouldn’t worry. »
However, months later, the violations arrive, which result in high fines. “I can’t believe the amount,” Ms. Lauzon said.
” A trap ”
A different story, same feeling for Douglas Beeson, who traveled to the Washington area with his daughter for the holidays. Both contracted COVID-19 during their stay, resulting in positive PCR tests when they arrived at the Canadian border.
“Our understanding of the rules at the time was that as Canadian citizens we had the right to return to the country and then quarantine,” Mr. Beeson says. That’s why he informs the customs officer about the positive results right from the start.
The agent in question advises Mr. Beeson and his daughter that they need to stop at a marquee a hundred meters further on Canadian soil.
We go there and a nurse explains the quarantine process to us. At the very end she tells us that she has an obligation to inform us that we are facing a $5,000 fine.
Douglas Beeson
Mr. Beeson then receives a notice of non-compliance…but remains in limbo. However, at the beginning of summer 2023, the violation reports arrived.
“I could very well have been told clearly: ‘Mr Beeson, you have no right to be here.’ Make a U-turn. “But no!” he said in exasperation. He claims that if he had been informed about the fine awaiting him, he would have turned around.
Like Ms. Plante and Ms. Lauzon, he feels deceived. “It’s absurd. It’s a complete trap, this thing, and I hope the justice system understands it,” said Mr Beeson, who has pleaded not guilty.
Confusion around periods
There were many changes to the entry rules at the end of 2021 and beginning of 2022. In particular, shortly before Ottawa tightened entry measures into the country again around mid-December due to the threat posed by the Omicron variant, there were relaxations. On November 8th, the land borders between Canada and the United States reopened to non-essential travel. On November 30, an exemption from presenting a negative result went into effect for people returning to the country after staying in the United States for less than 72 hours. However, this measure was announced by Ottawa on November 19th and has since been widely reported in the media and social networks.
Learn more
19,556 Number of fines imposed at the border for violations of the Quarantine Act from April 14, 2020 to September 29, 2022. Of these, 4,877 related to arrival at the border without prior inspection.
Source: Public Health Agency of Canada
66 million total amount of fines imposed in Quebec under the Public Health Act from April 1, 2020 to January 31, 2023
Source: Quebec Ministry of Justice