Photographer: E + / Getty Images
Photographer: E + / Getty Images
Getting on a plane to take a winter break is a Canadian ritual. Suddenly, however, it became a mistake that is changing the career of politicians.
Three provincial ministers, including The Ontario chief of finance was forced to resign from the cabinet last week after being asked to fly to pleasant destinations during the holidays, defying his government’s guidelines to stay home because of Covid-19. About a dozen government officials who traveled abroad were accused of ethical violations, with some losing their parliamentary titles, including two members of the Justin Trudeau government.
“We have been very clear. No one should be on vacation abroad now, ”Trudeau said at a news conference in Ottawa on Tuesday. “One of the things that has been very, very important in this whole pandemic for Canadians is the feeling that we are all in this together.” He said people traveling abroad are not entitled to a governmental benefit of C $ 1,000 ($ 780) for those who need to isolate themselves.
Justin Trudeau speaks to reporters outside his Ottawa home on January 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 a 14-day quarantine on arrival has decreased airline traffic. Canadian authorities have discouraged non-essential travel outside the country, although they are not prohibited.
Faced with a wave of infections that threatened to overwhelm hospitals as the holiday approached in December, several provinces sent their savings back to the more rigid blocks and asked people to sacrifice family reunions for the greater good.
“I am the guy who is stealing Christmas to keep you safe,” said Manitoba Prime Minister Brian Pallister at an emotional press conference, summing up the mood across the country.
Photographer: Trevor Hagan / Bloomberg
Most Canadians squatted during the holiday. Then came the evidence that some were doing just the opposite.
O The Journal de Montreal newspaper sent a reporter to an all-inclusive resort in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, which found tourists from Quebec walking without a mask and sharing drinks and cigarettes.
That article and similar reports left the French-speaking province in a frenzy. They fueled fears that travelers would bring the virus back, in a repeat of the inopportune school holidays in March, which officials blame for the death toll in Quebec – 8,379 deaths, mostly in Canada.
In neighboring Ontario, travel became a political scandal when Finance Minister Rod Phillips was revealed to be on vacation in upscale Saint Barthelemy after his government imposed widespread business closures. To make matters worse, Phillips released pre-recorded messages on Twitter that gave the impression that he was still in the country. He resigned on December 31.
In Saskatchewan, a minister who traveled to California resigned from the cabinet on Monday.
The anger was particularly acute in Alberta, where premier Jason Kenney had previously been criticized for taking too long to act against a wave of infections. On Monday, Kenney took out disciplinary action against his chief of staff and six lawmakers. This included the Minister of Municipal Affairs, Tracy Allard, who left office after traveling to Hawaii and was nicknamed “Aloha Allard” by some constituents.
A flight attendant passes idle check-in kiosks at Pearson Airport in Toronto last April.
Photographer: Cole Burston / Bloomberg
“Millions of Albertans have made real sacrifices in the past 10 months to help keep each other safe,” said Kenney in a statement. “They are right to be angry with people in leadership positions who are on vacation outside the country.”
Tens of thousands of Canadians it flees from harsh winters to the southern United States, Mexico and other hot destinations every year, with some of the so-called snow birds spending all winter there. That type of trip has dropped about 70% this winter, according to the Canadian Snowbird Association, a travel advocacy group.
“We are all tired of Covid. Morale is cracking in places and people are breaking the law, ”he said. Richard Johnston, professor emeritus of political science at the University of British Columbia. It is “infuriating” for voters to hear public officials tell them to avoid social gatherings and travel “and so the people who are making these regulations are breaking the same regulations that they did,” he said.