While Canadians have been forced to obediently follow coronavirus public health regulations, politicians have willfully ignored those same rules without consequence.
Time after time, public officials have repeatedly violated their own advice. Whether politicians are going on vacation, visiting their families or ignoring social distancing measures, it’s becoming clear that they don’t believe the same rules apply to them.
True North has kept track of every single time a Canadian public official has broken coronavirus rules.
APRIL
April 3, 10, 30: Liberal Health Minister Patty Hajdu flies on weekend trips from Ottawa to Thunder Bay while telling Canadians to stay home.
April 14: Justin Trudeau travelled to Quebec to visit his family for Easter while telling Canadians to avoid gathering with loved ones. At the time, Quebec police had set up checkpoints at the Quebec/Ontario border to limit non-essential travel.
April 14: Andrew Scheer and his family join other MPs on a full flight to Ottawa without social distancing.
April 14: Elizabeth May flies with MPs on packed flight without social distancing.
April 14: Carla Qualtrough flies on the same flight with other MPs while not socially distancing.
April 28: Conservative MP Michelle Rempel admits to working from Oklahoma despite public health advice advising Canadians not to travel.
MAY
May 8: Doug Ford goes to his Muskoka cottage on Easter despite telling Ontario residents to not go to their cottages.
May 16: Liberal Health Minister Patty Hajdu flies on weekend trips from Ottawa to Thunder Bay while telling Canadians to stay home.
May 24: John Tory joins crowd in Trinity Bellwoods Park while not wearing a mask properly.
JUNE
June 5, 15, 23: Liberal Health Minister Patty Hajdu flies on weekend trips from Ottawa to Thunder Bay while telling Canadians to stay home.
June 8: Trudeau joins massive Black Lives Matter protest despite public health orders banning large gatherings.
JULY
July 7: Andrew Scheer and Brian Pallister seen at Pearson International Airport not wearing masks.
July 15: Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart spotted at a restaurant with 7 other people, violating a public health order that allows no more than 6 people to sit together at a restaurant table.
SEPTEMBER
September 8: Doug Ford attends the wedding of a fellow MPP despite a ban on large gatherings. Ford also encouraged Ontarians to call the police if their neighbours were hosting large gatherings.
September 25: Erin O’Toole and Yves-François Blanchet attend separate large gatherings with supporters before testing positive with the coronavirus.
OCTOBER
October 17: Erin O’Toole and Jason Kenney do maskless, not socially distanced livestream.
October 19: Parliament had to install plexiglass to protect pages due to the fact so many MPs were ignoring social distancing measures.
October 26: Liberal Health Minister Patty Hajdu seen not wearing a mask at the Pearson airport lobby.
October 28: Ontario MPP Sam Oosterhoff spotted at a restaurant with a large group of friends with no masks or any social distancing.
NOVEMBER
November 23: Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens dined at a restaurant with seven other people at the table. Under the provincial rules at the time, the maximum number of people allowed to be at a table together was six.
DECEMBER
December 22: Saskatchewan cabinet minister Joe Hargrave flies to California to sell his home despite public health advice to stay home as much as possible.
December 28: Ontario Senator Vern White traveled with family to Finland to visit relatives
December 29: Ontario finance minister Rod Phillips goes on vacation in St Bart’s and tries to cover it up despite public health advice to stay home as much as possible.
December 30: Quebec Liberal MNA Pierre Arcand vacations in Barbados despite public health advice to stay home as much as possible.
December 30: Quebec CAQ MNA Youri Chassin travels to Peru to visit his husband despite public health advice to stay home as much as possible.
December 31: Alberta MLA Pat Rehn posts a photo of himself from an adventure park near Cancun, Mexico despite public health advice to stay home as much as possible.
December 31: Alberta MLA Jason Stephan admits to travelling to Arizona despite public health advice to stay home as much as possible.
JANUARY
January 1: Alberta MLA Tracy Allard admits to vacationing to Hawaii in December despite public health advice to stay home as much as possible.
January 1: NDP MP Niki Ashton travelled to Greece to see a sick relative despite public health advice to stay home as much as possible.
January 1: Calgary-Peigan MLA Tanya Fir admits to travelling to the US to visit her sister despite public health advice to stay home as much as possible.
January 1: Alberta MLA Jeremy Nixon admits to vacationing in Hawaii for the holidays despite public health advice to stay home as much as possible.
January 2: Calgary MP Ron Liepert’s office admits the MP travelled to California twice since March despite public health advice to stay home as much as possible.
January 3: MP for Brampton West Kamal Khera admits she travelled to Seattle for a loved one’s funeral despite public health advice to stay home as much as possible.
January 3: Liberal MP for Pierrefonds—Dollard Sameer Zuberi admits he travelled to Delaware to see his wife’s sick grandfather despite public health advice to stay home as much as possible.
January 3: Global News reports Liberal MPs Alexandra Mendès, Lyne Bessette and Patricia Lattanzio travelled abroad in 2020 in either the summer or fall.
January 4: Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo MLA Tany Yao admits he travelled to Mexico despite public health advice to stay home as much as possible.
January 4: Conservative Senator Don Plett admits he travelled to Mexico over the holidays despite public health advice to stay home as much as possible.
January 4: Global News reports the MP for Flamborough–Glanbrook David Sweet is currently in the US for the holidays despite public health advice to stay home as much as possible.
January 4: Manitoba MLA James Teitsma travelled outside of the province with his family for the holidays despite public health advice to stay home as much as possible.
January 5: Ontario MPP Gila Martow visited her cottage on Selwyn Lake, ON for the holidays despite the province’s advice to stay home as much as possible.
January 5: Member of Ontario’s COVID-19 Science Advisory Table Dr. Tom Stewart admits to travelling to the Caribbeans for the holidays despite the province’s advice to stay home as much as possible.
January 5: Victoria City Councillor Sharmarke Dubow travelled to East Africa over the holidays to visit family despite public health advice to stay home as much as possible and not to visit family members outside of the household.
January 6: Senator Vern White admits he travelled to Finland with his family despite public health advice to stay home as much as possible.
January 7: The acting manager at the Public Health Agency’s Office of Border and Travel Health Dominique Baker flew to an all-inclusive resort in Montego Bay in mid-November despite public health advice to stay home as much as possible.
January 8: London Health Sciences Centre chief executive Paul Woods travelled to the U.S. five times since the start of the pandemic, including over the Christmas break, despite public health advice to stay home as much as possible.
