Canada's COVID jails have returned — and are seemingly worse than ever
Reports from within the newly-revived detainment facilities detail abhorrent conditions for travellers who are given no other choice but to isolate within.
Amidst fears surrounding the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, forced quarantine at Canada's COVID jails is back — and conditions for those stuck inside are reportedly worse than ever.
Last week, Canada announced travel bans affecting 10 African countries connected to the Omicron variant. Canadian citizens and permanent residents who have been to any of the 10 countries within the past 14 days are forced to stay at a government-designated quarantine facility upon returning to Canada — regardless of vaccination status — as they await the results of an arrival COVID-19 test.
Even after receiving a negative test result, travellers must wait — in some cases a number of days — for permission from public health officials before they can go. Once permitted to leave the site, travellers must finish a full 14-day quarantine at home, under threat of hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of fines.
Rebel News has previously reported on the terrible conditions to be found within Canada's forced quarantine hotels, and we are continuing our legal fight to end the senseless program through NoCOVIDJails.com.
While the initial program was officially put to an end in August of this year, Trudeau's Liberal government has now revived Canada's COVID jails amidst the latest fear-crazed Omicron travel bans.
Reports from within the newly-revived detainment facilities detail abhorrent conditions for travellers who are given no other choice but to isolate within.
As The Globe and Mail reports:
Travellers returning from Africa say Canadian quarantine hotels have no laundry service, so they sit in dirty clothes eating bad food as they wait to hear when they can leave, even after getting the negative COVID-19 test result that is supposed to set them free.
In the past two weeks, the Liberal government announced new restrictions in response to the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. The World Health Organization, public-health experts and scientists say the policy unfairly singles out African countries, while Omicron has been identified in dozens of others, including 18 in Europe.
In Canada, business and tourism groups and federal opposition parties say the rules have been poorly executed. They include requiring travellers from 10 African countries to isolate in a federally managed hotel near the airport until they get a negative result from their on-arrival test.
But travellers in quarantine hotels said even after they received their negative result, they waited days for the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) officials to discharge them. And many are still waiting. At the hotels, they said they struggled to get diapers for babies, were served subpar food and were not provided laundry services.
One traveller by the name of Tiffany Gaura has been very vocal, both online and in speaking to the media, about her own experience of being forced into one of the latest editions of Trudeau's COVID jails.
Detailing her experience in a Facebook post published Saturday night, Gaura stated:
This is a tough post for me. Today we traveled back to Canada from Cairo. We came early to complete the new quarantine requirement given Egypt has been listed as a “Country of Concern”. I am FULLY VACCINATED. We had PCR tests in Cairo and Frankfurt. We have an empty home to go to here in Calgary.Upon arrival in YYC, we were taken by CBSA (Canadian Border Services) to PHAC (Public Health Canada) screening. It was a 15 minute interrogation about my history with Covid (none), my plans in Canada and my testing and vaccination. They read me my rights and told me I was entitled to a lawyer. They told me the fine for breaking quarantine is up to $750,000. We had a dedicated escort throughout, ensuring we weren’t escaping. Secondary unexplained screening at customs, and a PCR on arrival. We weren’t allowed to make any stops or get anything to eat or drink. The whole process took about 2 hours.We were transported in a dedicated vehicle to the Westin Airport Hotel in Calgary. The Government of Canada as contracted the entire hotel as a “secure quarantine location”. The parking lot is blocked with No Trespassing signs. We were met by the Red Cross of Canada employees in HazMat suits. We were processed and taken to an isolation floor. We cannot go outside. We cannot leave our room. We cannot get deliveries or packages. We cannot consume anything from offsite. We only get the meals they send us (it’s now 6:30pm and we have not had anything to eat or drink since we landed at 3pm). They have no cups for water in the room. I requested some but to no avail. Once we get our test results (presumably negative, and can take up to 72 hours) we must contact the Red Cross who will coordinate with Quarantine Officers for our release, that can take 48 hours (they say). They will provide us dedicated transport to our quarantine location (our home) where we must complete our 14 days in isolation. We must also take another test on Day 8.This is happening, right now, in Canada, two years into a pandemic to vaccinated individuals. I don’t have the words to express this well. I waver back and forth between rage, embarrassment and disbelief. This will change my life, I have no doubt.
Speaking to CTV News, Gaura added:
"We get very unhealthy meals dropped at our door, three times a day. There's a security guard outside the rooms. I mean, you can't go outside. There's no fresh air... I was not at all mentally prepared for that sort of a welcome."
Amidst fears surrounding the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, forced quarantine at Canada's COVID jails is back — and conditions for those stuck inside are reportedly worse than ever.
— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) December 7, 2021
FULL STORY: https://t.co/0ejTtPUxcn pic.twitter.com/CKmpEjSnI1
In another instance, as reported yesterday by Rebel News, a woman with extreme celiac disease was forced to go without food for at least 40 hours while in isolation at a designated quarantine hotel in Toronto. Janet Game went hours without being provided any food at all by the hotel — and when food finally was provided, none of it was gluten-free, even after subsequent pleadings from Game.
Game also reported that she was not allowed to leave her room or receive any food orders, such as from Uber Eats or from relatives who live nearby.
“It’s so scary,” Game said of the hotel atmosphere. “You can’t see anybody. They put wall-to-wall plastic.
“It’s like a science-fiction world here … they’re taking it too far.”
In an apparently oblivious and tone-deaf statement, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino defended the federal quarantine facilities when asked about the conditions on Monday.
"We're not going to spare any expense or resources when it comes to protecting Canadians, including at the border. We're going to continue to provide clear travel guidance to all Canadians and others who are travelling to Canada," he told reporters.
If you would like to aid in our efforts to put an end — once and for all — to the Trudeau government's horrific COVID jail system, you can do so by donating to our legal fund at NoCOVIDJails.com.
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