Given that our ICUs are at the level where we might have to start to doing medical triage I can understand his frustration. Not a fan of Doug Ford but I do find it very frustrating that I can't see my family for over a year in Canada yet you can fly into Pearson from areas that have huge uncontrolled covid outbreaks. A PCR test 72 hours before departure isn't effective if there is such high levels of covid like in Brazil or India. Many will be exposed between the test and flight and our quarantine program is not very effective. For example saw someone bragging about walking over the border and taking the train to Toronto. You are only supposed to take a private car directly to your quarantine location. Lots of other people quarantine with non-travelling family.
Ontario Travel Ban
- Thread starter Electrocutedguy
- Start date
it'll all be taken care of, there's too much pressure now on authorities, yesterday's speech of the PM was clear enough that they'll make it stricter even for land borders.
By the way, why can't you see your family, isn't domestic travel open in canada ?
Well, I can totally understand.
But one cannot justify the loopholes with such frustration. I mean, how can you even imagine that they are putting so much stress on air travelers while land travelers can enter freely upon their wish. Stricter measures should be adopted but just after tieing all the loose ends first.
fyr, students coming there are not just taking one covid test 72 hours before. In fact, they are taking 3 tests until they are proven negative and only then they can leave from isolation.
Domestic travel is not fully open at this time. Some provinces have put restrictions in due to the increased number of cases are only permitting residents or those with prior approval under special circumstances to enter. Hopefully things will improve in a few months but of course hard to say.
And even if your family members are in the same city, anyone who is being responsible isn't seeing them in person. I haven't been in the same room as my two nephews (or my brother or sister in law) since the first week of March 2020 and I used to see them every 1-2 weeks before the pandemic. It's very sad and hard to take but it's the right thing to do.
In Ontario especially in SW Ontario we have been told not to travel out of our region since last March. Gatherings with people outside your household have also been part of the restrictions. As an extended family we have chosen to be part of the solution not the problem and follow the rules and also want to protect higher risk individuals in our family. I have not seen my parents for close to 2 years since that would involve travelling to a different city. None of us have had covid so far but we are also lucky enough not to work in high risk work places other than healthcare settings.
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Not sure what you mean by travelling freely. Places like the GTA have been restricted from travelling for the majority of a year. The only test that matters when we are talking about trying to prevent covid cases from coming into Canada when ICUs are at capacity is the test before coming to Canada. Once you enter Canada and test positive it is too late. You may be another person needing hospital treatment and may have spread covid to another person either by quarantining with others or because PPE isn’t 100%. Think many people have shared Doug Ford’s frustration. For example is very hard to see businesses that have been closed for many months or open but only for order pick-up or take-out and many businesses closing yet foreign nationals are able to travel to see their family from other countries. Prioritizing things like travel while many businesses close seems crazy. Although travel is supposed to be limited to essential travel there is plenty of travel being allowed which is not essential. Travel is certainly not the only problem but are quarantine plans are not very good so it has allowed variants to easily enter the country and spread creating bigger problems. At the moment many provinces health systems are at their breaking points and the is going to be a huge backlog of treatment needed after covid is finally under better control. For example Ontario has a backlog of 250k surgeries. Every extra covid case is a potential ICU admission that provinces like Ontario can’t deal with at the moment.
I understand your frustration and I sympathize with your situation too, I wish you'd be able to visit them soon. I was in a similar situation last year as I hadn't visited my family for almost 6 months fearing that I might be carrying covid and might give it to them but please understand that this risk isn't going to go away anytime soon. We will have to learn to live with it unless there's a cure, not just vaccines which become ineffective every few months and need booster shots. The waves could keep coming for who knows how long, do meet your family the first chance you get without waiting.
Also, for now, only work permit holders or study permit holders who are either attending online classes or for whom classes are beginning within 21 days are being allowed to travel. So no no foreign national(atleast not indian) can come just to meet family.
The sad thing that I found out is that some people in canada are letting 2-3 people quarrantine in one room charging 500-600$ each for 11 days. That's just despicable. There is no check for that, they need a proper mechanism for bookinge the 11 days quarrantines, like airbnb etc and not let people quarrantine at their homes, that way people can choose accommodation that is cheaper than government offered and still safe.
You are actually incorrect. Any Indian who meets the travel restrictions or has been given authorization can visit if they don’t fly directly. Many have been able to find a flight after Qatar made testing in the Doha airport transit zone possible to get around the limitation. Parents of citizens and PRs and citizens can visit, siblings can visit if they have permission which most seem to be able to get, students who are studying online, etc. are able to enter. Although most of these people would like to travel to make their lives better it isn’t usually essential. Most family members aren’t coming to visit ill/dying family members,most students have Internet but getting up at odd hours is not very nice and many want to work part-time, etc.
There are people who are offering quarantine rooms that are not appropriate and they should stop but people quarantining should also have to follow the rules and not book the rooms. People arriving are aware of the quarantine rules and the large potential fines they may receive if caught. It isn’t up to the government to provide affordable places to quarantine. There are studio apartments or hotels that should provide decently priced accommodations but if you can’t afford to quarantine properly you shouldn’t come to Canada and risk spreading covid to the community. This is one example why many people are calling for travel to be banned especially from hot zones because people can’t be trusted to follow the rules yet people feel like it would be unfair if we forced people into 14 day quarantine and made them pay for it. People not quarantining properly lead to people dying or having longterm serious health issues. People treat it as no big deal.
My family and I are fine being separated because we realize that it is the responsible thing to do.. We can communicate on the phone or online. It really isn’t then end of the world. We realize that people are separated from their families for years for a variety of reasons and they are able to survive so it’s our turn. For example I think of many caregivers that come to Canada. Many are women who leave their young children behind to try to provide a better future for their children. Military families deal with multiple deployments. Families are separated by war. Things are all relative and it is important to have perspective. I am happy to do my part to help the healthcare system and try to stop the spread of covid and am not complaining about not seeing my family just providing proof of the insanity of the systems. While people in multiple parts of Canada have been told not to travel out of their region, have had curfews, could be stopped by the police in multiple areas right now, etc. there are no such requirements when it involves international travellers.
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You are wrong. Please read the bi-lateral air corridor agreement between India and Canada. Transits between the two countries are NOT allowed. Only direct flights are. Many of the people you see on those flights likely flew in from countries other than India.
Student travel is essential and non-discretionary according to the government.
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yes indeed I checked, family members are allowed to travel but that's government's call based on the demands of citizens and residents. But yes students going through indirect routes could be checked if canada imposed a rule like Australia saying noone who was in any such country for the previous 14 days should be able to board or land. But it's a mystery why they even allowed indirect flights carrying people. But on the same lines, some people are sick or needing care, some others are unable to emotionally cope. Not everyone is as understanding as others.
Lets be honest Doug Ford probably did say to ban intl students to Trudeau but Trudeau was too scared of the blowback so he may have publicized to see the reaction. Now, Ford is scared of the blowback so he's taking back his words. No one has the spine to do the right thing hahaha