Photographer: E + / Getty Images
Photographer: E + / Getty Images
Jumping on a plane for a winter break is a Canadian ritual. Suddenly, however, it has become a mistake that is disrupting the careers of politicians.
Three provincial ministers, included The Ontario chief financial officer was forced to resign from the cabinet last week after being called to fly to warm destinations over the holidays, defying his governments’ guidelines for staying home because of the Covid-19 . About a dozen more public officials who traveled abroad have been charged with ethical violations, and some have lost parliamentary title, including two members of Justin Trudeau’s government.
“It simply came to our notice then. No one should be on holiday abroad right now, ”Trudeau said at a news conference in Ottawa on Tuesday. “One of the things that has been very important in this whole pandemic for Canadians is the feeling that we are all together.” He said people traveling outside the country would not be eligible for a government benefit of C $ 1,000 ($ 780) aimed at those who have to isolate themselves.
Justin Trudeau talks to reporters outside his Ottawa residence on Jan. 5.
Photographer: David Kawai / Bloomberg
Canada’s travel rules are strict by the standards of most Western countries. Borders are closed to the vast majority of foreigners and the 14-day quarantine on arrival has slowed. air traffic. Canadian authorities have discouraged non-essential travel outside the country, although it is not prohibited.
Faced with an increase in infections that threatened to overwhelm hospitals as the December holidays approached, several provinces sent their economies to tighter closures and asked people to sacrifice family reunions for the greater good.
“I’m the guy who steals Christmas to protect you,” Manitoba Prime Minister Brian Pallister said in an emotional press conference, which summed up the nationwide mood.
Photographer: Trevor Hagan / Bloomberg
Most Canadians were trapped during the holidays. Then came the evidence that some were doing just the opposite.
He The Montreal Journal sent a reporter to an all-inclusive resort in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, who found Quebec tourists who were without masks and shared drinks and cigarettes.
That article and similar reports caused a frenzy in the French-speaking province. They sparked fears that travelers would catch the virus, in a repeat of the desperate March school break that officials blamed on the death toll in Quebec: 8,379 deaths, most in Canada.
Alongside Ontario, the trips turned into a political scandal when it was revealed that Finance Minister Rod Phillips was on holiday on the Saint Barthelemy plush after his government imposed a widespread closure of businesses. To make matters worse, Phillips had posted pre-recorded messages on Twitter that gave the impression that he was still in the country. He resigned on December 31st.
In Saskatchewan, a minister who had traveled to California resigned from the cabinet Monday.
Anger has been particularly acute in Alberta, where Prime Minister Jason Kenney had already been criticized for being slow to act against an increase in infections. On Monday, Kenney took it disciplinary action against his chief of staff and six legislators. This included municipal affairs minister Tracy Allard, who left office after traveling to Hawaii and was nicknamed “Aloha Allard” by some members.
A flight attendant passed inactive bill kiosks at Pearson Airport in Toronto last April.
Photographer: Cole Burston / Bloomberg
“Millions of Albertans have made real sacrifices over the past ten months to help themselves stay safe,” Kenney said in a statement. “They are right to be angry at people holding holiday leadership positions abroad.”
Tens of thousands of Canadians flee harsh winters to the southern United States, Mexico, and other warm destinations each year, with some so-called snowbirds spending the entire winter there. These trips have declined by about 70% this winter, according to the Canadian Snowbird Association, a travel advocacy group.
“We are all fed up with Covid. Morale is spreading in some places and people are breaking the law, ”he said Richard Johnston, Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of British Columbia. Voters are “outraged” to hear public officials tell them to avoid social gatherings and travel, “and that the people who are making these regulations are violating the regulations they made,” he said.