A Quebec Judge Blocked An Unvaccinated Father From Visiting His Kid
It's not in the child's best interest for the father to see him, the judge said.
Judge Sébastien Vaillancourt of the Quebec Superior Court has suspended a father's visitation rights due to the man being unvaccinated against COVID-19.
It's no secret that the Québec government has imposed a handful of restrictions on unvaccinated populations, including Premier Legault's most recent plans to significantly tax the unvaccinated. But it seems as if the personal decision to get vaccinated or not is creating major issues for one Montreal father.
Judge Vaillancourt temporarily barred the man from visiting his 12-year-old son in a December 23 ruling after he attempted to change his custody arrangement for part of the holiday season.
The father had petitioned for a review of his access rights, requesting to see his son between December 30, 2021, and January 9, 2022. The boy's mother contested the request after learning that the man was not vaccinated against COVID-19, according to a court document.
Considering the rampant spread of the Omicron variant, Vaillancourt wrote that while it would normally be in the best interest of the child to see his father, he believed the current epidemiological situation mandated otherwise.
The child, who is currently vaccinated with both doses, also lives with his 7-month-old and 4-year-old half-siblings.
The judge said he also weighed the risk of infection spreading to the younger children, who are not eligible for vaccination, in his decision to suspend visitation rights until at least February 8, 2022.
When the father was questioned regarding his decision to remain unvaccinated, he made clear he had "reservations," but did not explain what they were, Vaillancourt wrote in the decision.
The court further pointed to several of the father's Facebook posts indicating doubts about government health rules, suggesting, Vaillancourt said, that he is a "conspiracy theorist" and undermining his claims that he follows public health measures.
The suspension can be re-evaluated depending on the evolution of the COVID-19 situation, and whether the man abides by health regulations and chooses to get vaccinated. The father is currently set for another hearing on February 8.
Health Canada has a robust website with all the latest information on COVID-19 vaccines and can answer any questions you may have.
This article’s cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.
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Omicron Is Causing Airlines To Cancel Holiday Flights But YUL's In Good Shape
Numerous airlines around the world have cancelled dozens — if not hundreds — of flights.
COVID-19 tests, vaccine passports and masks aren't the only things making travel more difficult over the holidays this year. Multiple airlines around the world have cancelled dozens — if not hundreds — of flights this week, leaving thousands of people grounded, as Omicron cases surge.
These airlines include Lufthansa, Delta, United, Qantas and Jetstar.
Yup, @SpiritAirlines & @FlyFrontier did it TWICE today. Canceled flights for over 400 people in Vegas to Cali because \u201cthey didn't have staff\u201d. Ruined Christmaspic.twitter.com/eoPOTXAgoW— Vincent Sager (@Vincent Sager) 1640320908
"We planned a very large buffer for the vacation period. But this was not sufficient due to the high rate of people calling in sick," said Lufthansa in a statement shared with Narcity.
The German-based airline didn't specifically name Omicron, but other airlines have blamed the variant for forcing them to cancel flights.
"The nationwide spike in Omicron cases this week has had a direct impact on our flight crews and the people who run our operation," United told Narcity in a statement. "As a result, we've unfortunately had to cancel some flights and are notifying impacted customers in advance of them coming to the airport."
According to FlightAware, United cancelled 201 flights on December 24 and more than 230 flights on Christmas Day. Delta cancelled 173 flights on December 24 and 301 flights on December 25. Between the two airlines over two days, that's a total of at least 900 flights.
Delta told ABC News this happened because its teams had "exhausted all options and resources -- including rerouting and substitutions of aircraft and crews to cover scheduled flying — before cancelling around 90 flights for Friday."
"We apologize to our customers for the delay in their holiday travel plans. Delta people are working hard to get them to where they need to be as quickly and as safely as possible on the next available flight," said Delta in its statement to ABC.
Overall, FlightAware shows a total of 2,380 flight cancellations on December 24 and 2,586 cancellations on December 25. The airline with the most reported Christmas Day cancellations is China Eastern with 545 cancelled flights.
Austalia's 7 News reported that Jetstar cancelled dozens of flights on Christmas Eve because "frontline staff have needed to get tested and isolate as close contacts."
Three cancelled flights at YUL
So far, however, if you're travelling out of the Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport aka YUL, you'll very likely be able to take off. Whether or not you can arrive at your destination depends on where you're transferring.
Only three Christmas Day flights are currently cancelled at YUL: two Air Canada flights to New York (LaGuardia) at 1:25 p.m. and 5:45 p.m. as well as a British Airways flight to London (Heathrow) at 9 p.m.
It's not clear why these particular flights were cancelled.
At the time this was published, there were no cancellations scheduled for December 26.
YUL advises travellers to arrive at the airport three hours before their flight.
Before you get going, check our Responsible Travel Guide so you can be informed, be safe, be smart, and most of all, be respectful on your trip.
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The City Of Toronto Might Help Fund A Legal Battle Against Quebec's Bill 21
Toronto Mayor John Tory is asking the city council to help fight the law in court.
@johntory | Instagram, Émilie Nadeau via @francoislegault.pm | Instagram
In the latest turn of events in the mounting national opposition to Quebec's controversial Bill 21, Toronto Mayor John Tory said that Toronto's city council will vote on a motion to help fund legal battles against the law, which bans many public servants from wearing religious symbols while performing their duties.
Tory also voiced his personal opposition to Bill 21 in a statement published on Twitter. "I continue to be opposed to Quebec's Bill 21. Today, I will ask City Council to help fund the legal fight against Bill 21," the mayor wrote.
I continue to be opposed to Quebec's Bill 21. Toronto City Council has also repeatedly voiced its opposition to this bill. Today, I will ask City Council to help fund the legal fight against Bill 21.pic.twitter.com/TyekKVJ2NX— John Tory (@John Tory) 1639664257
This news follows a recent letter published by Brampton, Ontario mayor Patrick Brown in which he implores mayors across Canada to consider pooling their cities' financial resources to help "fight Bill 21 in the courts."
Mayor Tory said Thursday that he stands with Brown and "[encourages] other cities across Canada to join this fight to uphold the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms."
In the past week, Quebec has been under fire for applying Bill 21 to remove elementary school teacher Fatemeh Anvari, who wears a hijab, from her position in the city of Chelsea. The incident prompted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to speak out against the law.
"I don't find that in a free and open society that someone should lose their job because of their religion," Trudeau said at a press conference on Monday.
Quebec Premier François Legault clapped back, insisting laws need to be enforced. He said the local school board made a mistake by hiring Anvari.
What will Legault have to say about this latest move by Tory?
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A Quebec Woman Who Sued Trudeau For $90k After He Called Her Out For Racism Just Lost
The judge completely shot down her argument.
"Ill-founded and abusive" is how superior court judge Michèle Monast described a Quebec woman's defamation lawsuit against Justin Trudeau. In a decision published on November 29, Monast shot down Diane Blain's case against the prime minister.
The lawsuit followed a 2018 incident at a Liberal party rally in Sainte-Anne-de-Sabrevois, Quebec, in which Blain asked Trudeau when he would "give back the 146 million [Quebec] paid" to support what she called Trudeau's "illegal immigrants."
In response, Trudeau told Blain that "this intolerance toward immigrants has no place in Canada, this intolerance toward diversity, you have no place here."
Throughout the event, Blain confronted him and asked several times if he was "tolerant of the Québécois de souche" — people who claim descent from French colonizers.
"Madame, your racism has no place here," Trudeau responded before RCMP officers intervened.
In her lawsuit, Blain sought a total of $90,000 in compensation from Trudeau for what a court document describes as "distress, stress, and inconvenience caused to her" as a result of the 2018 interaction, as well as a perceived "infringement of her freedom of expression and opinion and her right to be treated without discrimination," among other claims.
But Judge Monast wasn't having any of it.
In her decision to dismiss the lawsuit, Monast wrote that "Ms. Blain's assertion that Mr. Trudeau's comments about her were defamatory and that he damaged her reputation is not supported by any evidence."
She cited a testimony that she said "was replete with contradictions, exaggerations and implausibilities" and concluded that Blain's "lack of civility, the aggressive tone in which she asked her questions" and, among other things, "her hostile attitude" demonstrated "that she was trying to provoke him."
Monast called Trudeau's response to her first question "legitimate" and said "it was not unreasonable" for Trudeau to "consider, in such a context, that Ms. Blain's comments indicated some racism."
"She testified that she found it offensive and hurtful to be told that she was intolerant and racist toward immigrants because she does not consider herself to be an intolerant and racist person," Monast wrote.
"The statements she has made on various occasions, her social media posts, and the testimony she gave during her examination for discovery and at trial unfortunately indicate otherwise."
The judge concluded by accusing Blain of using the event to "gain notoriety and to promote her political ideas."
"It is not unreasonable to conclude, as suggested by Mr. Trudeau's counsel, that she initiated legal proceedings against Mr. Trudeau for the same reasons."
This article’s cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.
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