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Int'l travellers violating quarantine rules unlikely to be fined as Alberta hasn't signed on to federal act

Last Updated May 12, 2021 at 1:01 pm MDT

FILE - A plane is silhouetted as it takes off from Vancouver International Airport in Richmond, B.C. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

CALGARY – Alberta is one of only two provinces not fining travellers who return on international flights and then refuse to quarantine at a designated hotel.

Alberta and Saskatchewan are the only provinces that have not signed on to the federal Contravention Act giving police the power to enforce the Quarantine Act and hand out tickets to those arriving at the Calgary International Airport and refusing to spend three days in a hotel while they are tested for COVID-19.

It means Calgary police are handcuffed in enforcing the rules.

Calgary is one of four cities accepting international flights — alongside Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver — but the only one where police don’t have the ability to use the quarantine act provisions.

A statement from Calgary Police Services says in Alberta, officers are left waiting to receive a public complaint — sometimes days later or longer after the fact — and have to investigate and then apply to the courts for a summons.

“Without the immediacy of enforcement, necessary evidence is not available as CBSA (Canada Border Services Agency) and PHAC (Public Health Agency of Canada) policies and procedures do not track essential elements for after-the-fact prosecution. This can include such things as determining which CBSA or PHAC officer served documents and to whom and establishing continuity of other pieces of evidence,” reads the statement.

Alberta Justice Minister Kaycee Madu’s office also issued a statement saying people can be fined under provincial legislation, but it didn’t have a breakdown of how many of the tickets issued so far were related to air travellers refusing to quarantine.