Pilot in Thunder Bay says CBSA officers he's dealt with unfamiliar with COVID-19 rules at airport

A pilot based in Thunder Bay, Ont., says he's flown his private plane between Canada and the United States three times this summer, with Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) agents unaware of the COVID-19 rules that pilots are required to follow. 

Scott McFadden said he made separate trips to the United States, as far away as Wisconsin and as close as Grand Marais, Minn. One of the trips was to attend an airshow, while another involved picking up packages.

McFadden holds a commercial pilot licence.

Each time, McFadden said, border agents on the U.S. side were familiar with entry rules and regulations, but on his return to Thunder Bay, CBSA officials were less than helpful.

McFadden said upon landing in Thunder Bay, on one occasion, the Canadian border officer didn't allow him to speak and started yelling over him. 

"I've crossed the border several times now. The rationale has sort of changed during the conversations," McFadden said, with officers telling him each time that he was not allowed to cross and he was subject to quarantine.

McFadden said the rules for crossing the border by air don't differentiate between commercial and private pilots. Transport Canada said in a statement to CBC News that the airports commercial and private aircraft can arrive at differentiate.

McFadden said he was told by CBSA agents his trip was not essential and he shouldn't have taken it. 

"I reminded them that the air border is not limited to essential travel," McFadden said. "The reasoning was changed to, 'I wasn't commercial.' And then the third thing, finally, was that, 'You're not getting paid.' Whether you're getting paid or not, you're still the pilot."

McFadden said he did a partial quarantine after being advised to by CBSA after one trip, and had also taken a PCR test, which, he felt was the riskiest part of his entire trip.

He said while in the United States, he ensured he was physically distanced, wore a mask and avoided crowded areas. In order to get a PCR test completed, he said, he had to take public transportation, wait in a clinic full of other people and then take public transportation back to the airport. 

"There is clearly a resistance, a reluctance on the part of private pilots to complain, because there is the potential for retribution, and there's no question about it. I've experienced it on the apron in Thunder Bay in the past month.

"If you question the authority, there's a chance they're going to dump all your belongings out of the airplane, onto the apron, in front of the audience watching from the terminal building, which is exactly what happened to me," McFadden said.

"Speaking out, I fully expect to be basically harassed next time I fly into Thunder Bay."