Hotels, motels would be devastated by tighter travel restrictions

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With people discouraged from travelling due to the COVID-19 pandemic, hotels and motels have taken a huge financial hit.

And operators are concerned more restrictions by the provincial government will make things even harder.

BC’s beleaguered tourism and hospitality industry says a ban on inter-provincial, non-essential travel not only goes against Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms, it would also further cripple a sector that is hanging on by a thread.

BC Premier John Horgan said a ban on out-of-province travellers is being mulled and the Tourism Industry Association of BC commissioned a legal opinion that states a travel ban would be difficult to implement because the Supreme Court of Canada has held that Canadians’ mobility rights are among the most cherished rights of citizenship that are fundamental to nationhood.

According to the coalition, “These rights are so important they cannot be overridden by the notwithstanding clause. Government will be required to justify any infringement of those rights by showing they are carefully tailored to solve a real problem that other health measures that do not restrict Canadians’ rights cannot achieve.”

The coalition said it would also be challenging for government to justify creating classes of Canadian citizens based on provincial residency, and that the government would have to explain how a provincial ban would be logical and justified when the federal government permits Canadians to travel for non-essential purposes and return to Canada through any province of their choice.

The coalition acknowledges the work by government and frontline health care workers to manage the pandemic, and stresses it is not advocating to irresponsibly open the province to all travel at this time. “However, industry leaders point out that since the start of the pandemic, the tourism and hospitality industry has supported provincial COVID-19 protocols and prioritized health and safety by developing and implementing extensive health and safety measures to protect guests, employees and residents,” it said in a statement.

Industry leaders have repeatedly emphasized that travel is not the culprit for the spread of COVID-19, but rather individual behaviour.

Coalition members are urging the government to steer away from the notion of a travel ban in favour of working with the industry and communities to educate prospective visitors on their responsibilities such as BC health and safety protocols, as well as expected individual behaviour.