Former Newfoundland Premier Brian Peckford and Leader of the People’s Party of Canada Maxime Bernier, along with other Canadians, are petitioning the Supreme Court to hear their legal challenge against the federal government’s travel vaccine mandate. This challenge was made in response to the government’s requirement for Canadians to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination to travel, which was implemented in November 2021 and removed in June 2022.
In February 2022, the legal challenge was filed over the travel restrictions put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic, stating that they violated their charter rights, such as freedoms of religion and conscience, assembly, democratic rights, mobility, security, privacy, and equality. The legal challenge was dismissed by the Federal Court of Appeal in November 2023, at the request of the Crown.
Despite the Federal Court’s ruling, Premier Peckford, Maxime Bernier, and others are pushing to have the Supreme Court of Canada hear their case, arguing that the issues raised are of national importance and that Canadians deserve access to court rulings about policies that violate Charter freedoms.
The applicants argue that the court decision could set a precedent for similar cases involving the constitutionality of emergency orders, pointing out that Canadians need to know whether it is lawful for the federal government to prevent them from travelling across Canada or from leaving and re-entering their own country based on vaccination status.
Besides Peckford and Bernier, other groups of Canadians also challenged the vaccine mandate for travel, arguing that approximately 6 million Canadians were restricted from traveling. They filed a new lawsuit for damages following the defeat of their initial legal challenge, seeking $1 million in damages for the violation of Charter rights. Nabil Ben Naoum, one of the challengers, has filed to have the Supreme Court hear his case.