COVID jails legal battle: Rebel News, JCCF suing to end mandatory quarantine programme

• By Sheila Gunn Reid
• |
• June 01, 2021

Today in federal court in Toronto, lawyers for Rebel News, alongside lawyers from the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, are suing the federal government to put an end to Justin Trudeau’s illegal and unconstitutional COVID jail system.

Healthy Canadians arriving by air, who already tested negative for COVID before flying, have been required to quarantine for three days at the cost of thousands of dollars while they await a second PCR test upon landing in Canada. Upon the results of that second PCR test, these healthy COVID-free people are then required to finish out a 14-day quarantine at home.If travellers don’t submit to arbitrary COVID detention, which appears to be up to the discretion of the health agents at the border, or a second COVID test upon arrival, these law-abiding Canadians then face thousands of dollars in fines and possible jail time. Completely healthy people are being arrested, detained and — as we found out today in court — denied the knowledge that they have a right to contact a lawyer, all in the name of “two weeks to flatten the curve.”

That’s exactly what happened to former Rebel News journalist Keean Bexte, who travelled to Florida on assignment for Rebel News. Upon his arrival back in Calgary, Keean was taken to a COVID jail hotel, despite having the ability to quarantine alone, his own mode of transportation to his location of quarantine, and a negative PCR test before he got on his plane back to Canada.

Even worse, these quarantine measures don’t apply to travellers who are arriving back to Canada by land. Apparently, the federal government presumes that so-called variants of concern only travel via airplane. But in fact, the government provided no evidence of the variants of concern entering via plane in their affidavits.

Rebel News will be following the case over the next three days, providing video updates and live tweeting the proceedings.

Law-abiding Canadian citizens are allowed to travel in and out of our country. They shouldn’t be punished financially by being sent to an overpriced COVID hotel, and denied their liberty and security of person just for trying to come home.

The federal government has limitless resources to fight Rebel News in court, but we think freedom is worth it. We’ve got great lawyers from JSS Barristers working on the case, including Sarah Miller, who is also working on our Charter challenge to the lockdown in Saskatchewan and representing Pastor Artur Pawlowski in Calgary.