Some premiers say federal travel moves are evidence-free ‘political theatre’

Several premiers rebuffed suggestions by federal ministers to force new COVID quarantines on travellers, saying Ottawa failed to provide any data to support the drastic measures.

The Trudeau government’s aborted intention this week to ramp up travel restrictions amounts to little more than “political theatre” from a government that cannot produce data to support tightened travel rules, say multiple sources who work for premiers who participated in Tuesday’s First Ministers meeting.

The meeting was called by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to look at ways to stem the spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19.

The hastily arranged 90-minute teleconference convened by Trudeau opened with federal officials telling surprised premiers that Ottawa was considering the re-introduction of a mandatory 14-day quarantine on all incoming non-essential travellers, regardless of vaccination status or nationality, and planning to impose an outright ban on all non-essential inbound foreign nationals.

Several premiers challenged both Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos and the country’s chief medical officer of health, Dr. Theresa Tam, at the meeting, asking them to provide a scientific rationale for imposing such drastic restrictions. None was provided. Duclos, sources said, struggled to explain the scientific rationale behind such proposed measures while Tam conceded that such measures would not, at this point in the pandemic, stem the spread of the Omicron variant.

Instead, the day after that meeting, Duclos announced Canada would re-introduce a travel advisory recommending that no Canadian travel abroad unless absolutely necessary.

But the frustrated attempts by federal politicians to seek support for new quarantine and travel bans along with the existing ban on inbound travellers from six African countries had some sources in premiers offices suggesting that politicians are overruling the scientists when it comes to making public health rules.

“Why? Theatre and appearance of leadership,” said an aide to one of the premiers at the meeting. An aide to another premier used a similar phrase, describing the restrictions floated by Ottawa at Tuesday’s meeting as “political theatre.”

Sources in four different premier’s offices, two of whom listened in on the 90-minute teleconference call, shared their observations about Tuesday’s First Ministers’ Meeting with Global News. Each one asked not to be identified other than as a senior aide to a premier. One of the concerns of the premiers is that a public already weary of public health restrictions will resist new rules imposed by politicians that cannot be supported by science.