I’ll take the $3k fine instead of submitting to hotel quarantine, Mr. Trudeau

I might be one of those mandatory hotel quarantine travellers. Or I might not be. Actually, I’m certain I won’t be.

With the federal government’s controversial hotel lock-up for air passengers extended to May 21, and at press time there’s no further information if it will continue beyond Friday, travellers don’t know how to plan accordingly.

No matter what Prime Minister Too-Little-Too-Late decides, I’m confident that I won’t stay in a potentially virus-infected government-mandated disease-plagued hotel. How and why? I’ll refuse.

I will be one of the hundreds, if not thousands, of Canadians who will gladly take the $3,000 ticket and head home from the airport rather than check into a required hotel.

Am I thumbing my nose at public safety? Of course not. Am I making an informed decision about the personal risks of staying there? Abso-frickin-lutely.

My logic — and I’ll gladly present it to my lawyer and subsequently a judge: From the time my airplane lands to the time I get home, I will have contact with fewer people than going through the process of checking into a government detainment centre and remaining there for any length of time.

I will cross paths with airline and airport staff (there’s nothing I can do to avoid that in either scenario), and a) go to a car and arrive at my house; or b) get into a hotel shuttle with other passengers and a driver, wait in a hotel lobby or conference room with other guests and interact with hotel staff, many of whom could be unvaccinated and untested, while spending days in isolation where I’ll have plenty of time to read about virus outbreaks in the mandatory facilities.

Now, let me see: Decisions, decisions.

Meanwhile, I challenge our readers to research which hotels and hotel chains are participating in this program. These properties are knowingly overcharging guests and treating them worse than animals, and in some cases blaming the federal government for how this debacle is playing out. News flash: If you don’t agree with how it’s working, pull your participation. Simple. Spare your reputation.

I realize the hotel industry is hurting right now but sometimes there are bigger issues than money. If your multi-million (or billion) dollar brand is connected with an outbreak that is killing Canadians, shame on you. The spotlight shouldn’t solely be on the federal government whose policy is failing Canadians, it’s the companies going along with it.

With my work travel beginning in a couple of weeks and my hotel stays increasing, I will reference my list to ensure I’m not supporting the companies that have stuck with the government’s price-fixed less-than-third-world-treatment hotel program.

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