QUESTION PERIOD — Foreign Affairs
Mandatory Quarantine
June 15, 2021
Honourable senators, my question is for the government leader in the Senate. Leader, last week the Trudeau government announced quarantine rules that will soon be relaxed for Canadian citizens returning from abroad if they are fully vaccinated with a Health Canada-approved COVID-19 vaccine. France is now allowing tourists to enter its country without quarantine if they are fully vaccinated with one of the four vaccines approved by the European Union. According to media reports, leader, Canadian and American officials are meeting today to discuss how to lift border restrictions between our two countries.
As you said to Senator LaBoucane-Benson last week, leader, and let me quote you, “This is an easy question. A simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ would suffice.”
Leader, let me ask you an easy question, and a “yes” or “no” answer will suffice: Since AstraZeneca is not authorized for use in the U.S., will Canadians vaccinated with AstraZeneca be allowed to enter the U.S. without quarantine?
Thank you very much for your question.
Were it an easy question to answer, I could easily give you a “yes” or “no.” The truth is that I don’t know the answer to the question. I know discussions are under way. Canada is taking — and properly so — a prudent and cautious approach in these matters to ensure that Canadians’ health is protected.
I’ll make inquiries, senator, and I would be glad to report back to the chamber.
Thank you for that, leader, and I trust that will happen fairly quickly.
According to the Government of Canada’s information, as of June 5 over 2.1 million Canadians have received at least one dose of either AstraZeneca or the COVISHIELD version of that vaccine. Many of those 2.1 million Canadians are looking forward to travelling to the U.S. without quarantine for business purposes and to reunite with family and loved ones. They deserve clarity, leader, sooner rather than later, on how the lifting of border quarantine restrictions may or may not impact them.
Leader, when does your government expect to tell Canadians who have received AstraZeneca whether quarantine restrictions will be lifted for them upon entering the United States?
Additionally, perhaps you can tell us, leader, when you will report to this chamber regarding those two questions.
Senator, it’s an important question, and Canadians who have received those vaccines are obviously eager and anxious to know what different rules might apply to them.
I can report on a daily basis, but the truth — and the more helpful answer — is that as soon as I have the answer, which I have undertaken to ascertain, I will report it.
