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309The
Right of Citizens Abroad to Return During a Pandemic
care and medications. That access was not a given for anyone sud-
denly forced to remain in another country, especially if this other
country was facing or soon would face a crisis in its health sector.
How can a measure that directly affects the most vulnerable, and that
risks excluding from boarding some citizens who are not COVID-19
positive while allowing others who are, be proportionate?
In writing this, we do not wish to diminish the effort that the
Government of Canada has deployed to bring back citizens, perma-
nent residents, and others stranded abroad. It is estimated that, as
of April 23, 2020, the government had coordinated the repatriation
of approximately 20,000 persons on 160 flights from 76 countries.39
One assumes that a great percentage of those were Canadian citizens.
However, some were also refused boarding. How many were left
behind on the basis that they had symptoms suggestive of COVID-
19 is unknown at this point. Likewise, we do not know how many of
those proved later to be indeed COVID-19 positive, nor do we know
how many passengers were allowed to board and, within 14 days of
arrival, tested positive for COVID-19.
Given its obligations both in international and domestic law,
Canada must ensure at all times that it does not create disproportion-
ate hurdles on the ability of its citizens to exercise their right to return
home. As the current Prime Minister has repeated on numerous occa-
sions in the past: âA Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian.â40
39. Brian Hermon & Scott McTaggart, âThe Canadian Consular Service and
Response to COVID-19â (24 April 2020), online (blog): Library of Parliament,Â
Hillnotes <hillnotes.ca/2020/04/24/the-canadian-consular-service-and-response-
to-covid-19/>.
40. Faiha Naqvi-Mohamed, ââA Canadian Is a Canadian Is a Canadianâ, HuffingtonÂ
Post (last modified 20 October 2016), online: <www.huffingtonpost.ca/fariha-
naqvimohamed/a-canadian-is-a-canadian-is-a-canadian_b_8337718.html>.
VULNERABLE
The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19
- Title
- VULNERABLE
- Subtitle
- The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19
- Authors
- Vanessa MacDonnell
- Jane Philpott
- Sophie Thériault
- Sridhar Venkatapuram
- Publisher
- Ottawa Press
- Date
- 2020
- Language
- English
- License
- CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- ISBN
- 9780776636429
- Size
- 15.2 x 22.8 cm
- Pages
- 648
- Categories
- Coronavirus
- International