Group Sues Ottawa Over ArriveCan Rights Violations, ‘Unlawful Quarantine’ of Canadians

Lawsuit Filed Against Ottawa for Alleged Violations of Canadian ArriveCan Rights and Unlawful Quarantine

February 24, 2024 TruthUSA

An application for a class-action lawsuit has been filed in the Federal Court against Canada’s Attorney General over the ArriveCan app.

Filed on Feb. 16, the lawsuit asserts that the app infringed on the rights of Canadians and technical issues resulted in the “unlawful quarantine” of thousands during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Consumer Law Group has initiated a class action lawsuit against the Attorney General of Canada for negligently contracting, developing, and implementing the ArriveCAN application,” stated a release from Consumer Law Group.

The lawsuit revolves around Quebec residents E. Sabbag and D. Rossner, who were erroneously instructed to quarantine because of the ArriveCan app, which was used to collect health information, including COVID-19 vaccination status, of travelers entering Canada.

Between June 28 and July 20, 2022, approximately 10,200 Canadians received incorrect quarantine instructions from ArriveCan, despite not testing positive for COVID-19, according to a report from the auditor general. Although the issue was eventually resolved, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner found that the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) breached the Privacy Act by not ensuring the accuracy of personal information used for administrative purposes.

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All Canadians who traveled to Canada between Nov. 21, 2020, and Oct. 1, 2022, who used ArriveCan and were mistakenly instructed to quarantine for COVID-19 are encouraged to participate in the class-action. These Canadians can complete a form on Consumer Law Group’s website, as per the organization.

The ArriveCan app has come under significant scrutiny recently, especially after Auditor General Karen Hogan published her critical report on Feb. 12. She discovered that several government agencies did not adhere to proper management and contracting procedures during the app’s development, and important records about development processes and financial decisions were missing.

The report estimated that ArriveCan cost $59.5 million, but mentioned that this figure could be inaccurate due to a lack of information regarding the app’s procurement and development processes.

“I am deeply troubled by the lack of findings in this audit. We could not find records to accurately display the amount spent, who carried out the work, or how and why contracting decisions were made,” Ms. Hogan expressed during a press briefing.

On Feb. 21, the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates passed a resolution urging the IT company responsible for ArriveCan to appear and testify or face apprehension by the Commons’ sergeant-at-arms. The two-person company GC Strategies received $19.1 million for their work on the app, despite subcontracting all the tasks to other companies.

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