Motorist kept from his home by Quebec’s tricky travel bans
Travel in Quebec is doubly restricted these days, what one police officer calls “the bubble within the bubble.”
Not only are Ontario residents barred from crossing one of five bridges to Gatineau — with some exceptions — but there are restrictions within the Outaouais itself. Someone from Low, for instance, needs a good reason to travel to Gatineau, as the trip crosses municipal boundaries. Roadblocks galore are forcefully making the point.
The gatekeepers are police officers who, in theory, are using their best judgment to determine who passes, who goes home. Therein lies a potential conflict — one man’s “essential” journey is another man’s flimsy excuse for an outing.
Witness the travails of Francis Aubin, 38, a Postmedia pressman, who was left furious after an encounter with police near Low, 60 kilometres north of central Gatineau, and outside one of the “bubbles.”
Aubin has a permanent address in St-Pierre-de-Wakefield, about 30 km from Low, where he lived with an ailing father and his family. Because he is an essential worker who travels to Ottawa regularly, Aubin was worried he might come home with COVID -19 and potentially infect his father, who is still recovering from cancer.
So he says he and a friend decided to temporarily relocate to Low, stocking a trailer with about $600 of food. Commuting for his printing shift, Aubin says he’s been stopped four times at roadblocks, never with a problem. Until Wednesday, at about 2:30 a.m.
He says he was pulled over by a cruiser with flashing lights near the intersection of Hwy. 105 and Martindale Road. He says the officer insisted he roll down his window and produce his driver’s licence and vehicle documents. There was no attempt at distancing, he says.
“You’re telling me to stay home and you’re six inches away from my face? You’re preaching something and you’re doing the opposite right in front of my face?”
Then things got weird. Aubin says he tried to explain why he was on the outskirts of Low, with a permanent address outside Wakefield, and a letter from his employer about his essential duties in west-end Ottawa. He just wanted to get home, eat and go to sleep, he says, and he told the officer this.
“They came back (after checking his credentials) and said, ‘You’re lucky we’re not giving out a $1,000 fine. Go back and eat in Ottawa.’”
He was so upset that he drove back to Gatineau and attempted to speak to someone at the offices of the Sûreté du Québec on Jean Proulx Street, but the office was closed. After having a snooze and cooling off, Aubin said he drove back to Low without incident.
He’s now worried this may happen again — and his good intentions (to protect his father) will backfire.
“I can’t be doing this every day,” he says. “When my shift is over, I want to go home and sleep, like a normal person.”
Spokesmen for the two police forces that patrol this part of the Outaouais had no specifics on the incident but stressed that anyone driving around at 2:30 a.m. — when virtually everything is closed — should not be surprised to be stopped and asked about their movements.
Sgt. Martin Fournel handles media for the MRC des Collines-de-l’Outaouais, a collection of seven smaller municipalities that surround Gatineau. He says police have been handed “the hot potato” of enforcing healthbased rules on people’s movements.
“There’s a bubble inside the bubble in the Outaouais right now.” The force’s 80 officers are working in teams on as many as 10 roadblocks a day.
The vast majority of residents are abiding by the rules but Fournel says many motorists have been untruthful about the reasons for their trip.
A spot check on statistics found 14 per cent of vehicles were turned away near Chelsea one day, and about 12 per cent near Val-des-Monts. “Checking on the cottage” for insurance purposes is not a valid reason, said Fournel, nor is visiting a relative.
Police have found cottagers are trying to use back roads or time their trip to avoid police. While Gatineau Park is closed, he says it continues to be a problem with those sneakily parking on the road or in nearby schools. So complaints keep coming.
“We don’t want this to become a cat-and-mouse game.”
So far, said Fournel, no tickets have been issued. Police are warning motorists or educating them on the rules laid down by provincial health authorities.
But that may soon change, with $1,000 tickets (with $500 add-on fees) to be handed out in the right circumstances.
“We’re still trying to convince people to do the right thing.” Expect more roadblocks on Easter weekend, he added, on popular routes like 105 and 307. To contact Kelly Egan, please call 613-291-6265 or email kegan@postmedia.com
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