An interim injunction which would have required nine Canadians to isolate in government-controlled hotels was denied by a federal court on Monday.

The nine people in question, despite having tested negative for COVID, would have had to stay in a hotel as directed by government officials. They would have had to remain locked in their hotel rooms for a total of at least three days, and would have been sent a bill for at least $2,000 for expenses.

According to a statement released by the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, the court involved in striking the injunction down is not the same court that issued it in the first place.

The ruling found that this type of forced confinement possibly contravenes Sections Seven and Nine of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and therefore, the issue needs to be resolved by trial.

"History demonstrates why the bulwark of the robust protection of Charter rights by an independent judiciary is so important in times of crisis," the justices wrote in their opinion.

The Justice Centre's Litigation Director, Jay Cameron, stated:

"The forced isolation of returning Canadian air travellers is arbitrary, unnecessary, and totalitarian. These quarantine hotels and restrictive measures are more consistent with a dictatorship than a free society.  We look forward to the full hearing of these issues in early June.

The hearing where the constitutionality of quarantine hotels and quarantine will be determined will be held on Jun. 1-3, 2021.

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