Court upholds $5,750 fine for B.C. woman who refused COVID-19 test at border
The B.C. Supreme Court has rejected a woman's bid to overturn a $5,750 fine she received after refusing to undergo a COVID-19 test at the border.
The court heard Nora Donahue declined the PCR test while crossing into Canada from the U.S. last September, which resulted in her being ticketed under the Quarantine Act.
"She believes that it was wrong for the government to require her to take a PCR test, and that the rules established pursuant to the Quarantine Act violated her constitutional rights," Justice H. William Veenstra wrote in his decision, which was posted online this week.
At the time Donahue was fined, travellers were required to provide proof of a negative PCR test before entering the country. Some who were tested still faced thousands of dollars in fines because they used the wrong kind of test.
The court heard Donahue filed a dispute against her ticket in October 2021, but didn't attend the subsequent hearing in Surrey provincial court in January 2022, and that the fine was upheld.
Undeterred, she made another attempt to contest the ticket in April 2022, filing an application in provincial court in which she cited "lack of informed consent, personal health privacy violation, constitutional violation" as her defence. Donahue also argued she had been out of the country for months prior to her hearing and was never properly notified of the date.
That application was rejected.
Finally, Donahue brought the case to B.C. Supreme Court through a civil claim against the province's attorney general and the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia. Part of ICBC’s role is to collect fines on behalf of the government.
The defendants argued Donahue's case amounted to a "collateral attack" on the decision of another court, something that could only appropriately be challenged by way of a judicial review.
Veenstra agreed and dismissed the claim.
"While an unfortunate result for the plaintiff, it seems clear that this is a classic case of an action making a collateral attack on a valid decision of a court with authority," he wrote.
The possibility of Donahue challenging the fine through a judicial review is "a matter for which she should seek advice from appropriate sources," Veenstra added.
The judge also ordered Donahue to pay the defendants' costs.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Saskatchewan households will continue to receive carbon tax rebate: Trudeau
Households in Saskatchewan will continue to receive Canada Carbon Rebate payments, despite the province refusing to remit the federal carbon price on natural gas, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
'We hoped for this day, but we were scared that it would not never ever come because it took so long.' That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
Senate expenses climbed to $7.2 million in 2023, up nearly 30%
Senators in Canada claimed $7.2 million in expenses in 2023, a nearly 30 per cent increase over the previous year.
Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko won't play in Game 2
The Vancouver Canucks will be without all-star goalie Thatcher Demko when they face the Nashville Predators in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.
Pedestrian, baby injured after stroller struck and dragged by vehicle in Squamish, B.C.
Police say a baby and a pedestrian suffered non-life-threatening injuries after a vehicle struck a baby stroller and dragged it for two blocks before stopping in Squamish, B.C.