Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced sweeping travel measures Friday that he said will combat the “challenges” of the COVID-19 pandemic, including a ban on flights to Mexico and the Caribbean.
Canadians returning home by air will soon have to pay more than $2,000 CAD for a three-day stay in a hotel to quarantine and receive a coronavirus test, CBC News reported.
“With the challenges we currently face with COVID-19, both here at home and abroad, we all agree that now is just not the time to be flying,” Trudeau said in Ottawa, according to Global News.(RELATED: Tucker Carlson Rips Justin Trudeau For Using COVID-19 Pandemic To Push Social Controls)
“By putting in place these tough measures now, we can look forward to a better time, when we can all plan those vacations.”
The prime minister said his government had reached an agreement with Canada’s major airlines — Air Canada, WestJet, Sunwing and Air Transat — to cease all flight service to Mexico and the Caribbean, beginning this Sunday. The accord will be in place until Apr. 30, 2021.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and First Lady of Canada Sophie Gregoire Trudeau wave as they get off a plane on their arrival to Buenos Aires for G20 Leaders’ Summit 2018 at Ministro Pistarini International Airport on Nov. 29, 2018 in Ezeiza, Buenos Aires, Argentina. (Photo by Daniel Jayo/Getty Images)
Travelers returning Canada will have to return at Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto or Montreal and will then be ordered to spend three days at a government-selected hotel in the area — a stay that Trudeau indicated will be “more than $2,000.”
People who test positive for COVID-19 will then be sent to a government quarantine facility — at taxpayer expense.
Canadians testing negative will be allowed to return to their homes but will be subject to rigorous surveillance from private security firms that the Trudeau government has contracted for this purpose, the National Post indicated. (RELATED: With Canada Day Celebrations Cancelled, Thousands Blanket Ottawa Streets To Protest Trudeau Government ‘Corruption’)
Non-essential travel to Canada by foreign nationals has largely already been banned and anyone allowed to do so has to produce a negative COVID-19 test upon arrival.
Anyone testing positive for the virus will have to finish their quarantine in a designated quarantine facility, where the government will cover the costs.
The Trudeau government has provided a $2,000 CAD monthly stipend to eligible unemployed Canadian workers as a result of the coronavirus lockdown.
Trudeau was criticized early in the pandemic for sending 17 tons of personal protective equipment to China that led to shortages in Canada for frontline emergency and medical staff. The Conservative Party official opposition has said Trudeau has been slow and ineffective in procuring sufficient quantities of the coronavirus vaccine as supplies run short.