OTTAWA (LifeSiteNews) – Canadian Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos has confirmed that after September 30, all COVID-era mandates for travel – including mandatory masking on planes, mandatory use of the ArriveCAN app, mandatory testing for border entry and forced quarantine for the unvaccinated – will end.
JUST IN: Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos announces that as of October 1, 2022, travelers will no longer be required to wear masks on federally-regulated planes and trains, or enter their information in ArriveCAN.
More on ArriveCAN:https://t.co/Qg3bpp8OgF pic.twitter.com/mBw4v3yVZm
— William Diaz-Berthiaume (@wdiazberthiaume) September 26, 2022
Duclos told reporters Monday that the Order in Council that expires on September 30 will not be renewed, thus the federal government will “remove all COVID-19 border requirements for all travelers entering Canada” starting October 1.
This removal includes the ending of “all federal testing, quarantine and isolation requirements, as well as the mandatory submission of health information in ArriveCAN.”
He added that the “government of Canada will maintain the ability to re-establish certain border measures, should they be required to protect Canadians from the importation of new variants of concern or other emerging public health threats.”
His statement about the authority of the government to re-establish any border measures for public health reasons is likely related to pre-COVID-era legislation found in the Quarantine Act, which has always held that the government can protect Canada’s borders in a public health capacity.
Contrary to Duclos’ statement that in the opinion of the government, potentially worrisome variants of concern could arise that would require the re-imposition of mandates, Duclos admitted that the government’s data shows that border closures are ineffective in stopping the mutation of viruses.
The news comes in the wake of Prime Minister Trudeau posting a video on Twitter last week, stating: “It’s time – if you’re eligible for your booster, get it. Let’s keep taking action to fight COVID-19, and let’s make sure our vaccinations are up-to-date. That way, we can continue to do the things we enjoy with the people we love.”
It’s time – if you’re eligible for your booster, get it. Let’s keep taking action to fight COVID-19, and let’s make sure our vaccinations are up-to-date. That way, we can continue to do the things we enjoy with the people we love. pic.twitter.com/OOy4Xrwztt
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) September 22, 2022
With no remaining federal mandates jab mandates – let alone booster mandates – it is unclear what Trudeau meant by intimating that COVID boosters were needed for Canadians to “continue to do the things we enjoy…”