Trudeau closes quarantine cheque loophole

`No one should be vacationing abroad right now'

OTTAWA • Justin Trudeau is closing a loophole that allowed Canadians who travelled abroad to claim $1,000 in sick leave benefits, saying no one should get a cheque for going on vacation.

In a press conference Tuesday, the prime minister said people who travelled internationally for non-essential purposes will now be ineligible for the Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit, which pays a stipend to people forced into quarantine. The program pays recipients $500 per week for up to two weeks.

“The objective was never to send a cheque to those who decided to go on vacation,” Trudeau said.

“So many people gave up so much more than just a vacation over the holidays. There's a reason so many Canadians made those tough, but responsible decisions. There's a reason so many Canadians did their part. It was for the people around them.”

He added, “No one should be vacationing abroad right now.”

International travel accounts for a small portion of new COVID-19 cases, according to public data. But public anger has mounted over the cheques for people who went on vacation and at a long list of politicians who flouted travel advisories that they themselves imposed.

Trudeau said he was “disappointed” by two Liberal MPs, Sameer Zuberi and Kamal Khera, who were forced to step down from their parliamentary positions after taking holiday trips to the U.S.

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney on Monday demoted seven MLAs and party staff who travelled outside Canadian borders for leisure, an effort to appease outrage in the province from citizens who were forced to cancel holiday travel plans. His action followed the resignations of former Ontario finance minister Rod Phillips and Saskatchewan Highways Minister Joe Hargrave, who said he travelled to Palm Springs to sell his home there.

NDP MP Niki Ashton was yet another politician to lose parliamentary roles, stripped of her cabinet critic positions on Jan. 1 for travelling to Greece to visit her ailing grandmother.

The prime minister decried decisions by provincial and federal politicians to flout travel advisories, saying they undermine the mantra that Canadians are “in this together” as they accept restrictions on where they go and who they see.

“As leaders we’ve been encouraging and exhorting Canadians to continue to do the right thing, so it is unfortunate to see a number of politicians not take their own advice,” Trudeau said. “I understand, and share the frustration that many Canadians are feeling, who would have loved to have a little break from all this but who know that it is not the time to do that.”

Trudeau himself faced criticism for breaking social distancing advisories back in April, when he crossed the Ontario-Quebec border to join his family for Easter at Harrington Lake, an official residence for prime ministers.

The prime minister said his family had been living at Harrington Lake for three weeks at the time, and not at Rideau Cottage, another residence where Trudeau and his family had quarantined a month earlier.

Trudeau on Tuesday also repeated claims that border restrictions aimed at COVID-19 in Canada are among the strongest in the world. Starting Thursday, all Canadian citizens re-entering Canada will have to provide a negative COVID-19 test within three days of departure, or will not be allowed to board flights.

The policy shift came just days after Public Safety Minister Bill Blair had declared that Canada’s border restrictions were among the most stringent in the world, and did not require additional measures to reduce the spread of the virus.

His comments came after Ontario Premier Doug Ford called for testing of travellers entering Pearson International, where he said many people were entering Canada and not following quarantine rules.

Canadian airlines have been deeply critical of Ottawa’s plan to test incoming travellers, saying it simply offloads all of the responsibility on private companies not yet equipped to screen for the virus.

In a letter to Transport Minister Marc Garneau on Monday, obtained by National Post, CEOs at Air Canada, WestJet and four other airlines voiced their “very real concerns” about the viability of the program, saying it had been forced upon the firms with very little consultation.

“With the current timeframes and lack of clarity and detail, we must note particular concern over the very real prospect of Canadians of all ages being denied boarding and stranded at destination,” the letter said.

According to data from the Ontario and Alberta governments, new cases of COVID-19 caused by international travel are relatively low, accounting for roughly two per cent of transmissions. As of Jan. 4, total cases of COVID-19 caused by travel were 4,064 in Ontario, compared with 80,117 caused by “close contact” and 37,023 from “community spread,” according to provincial data.