BREAKING Pearson gold heist suspect arrested after flying into Toronto from India
Another suspect is in custody in connection with the gold heist at Toronto Pearson International Airport last year, police say.
As Canada strengthens its travel restrictions amid the rise of the Omicron variant, frustration and confusion is ensuing for travellers stuck at quarantine facilities.
Last week, Canada announced travel bans affecting 10 African countries. Canadian citizens and permanent residents who had been in any of the 10 countries are required to stay at a quarantine facility upon returning to Canada, regardless of vaccination status, as they wait for the results of an arrival COVID-19 test. Canadians or permanent residents returning from these 10 countries are also required to present a PCR test result taken from a third country.
For people waiting for their test results in quarantine facilities, some say it goes beyond patience.
Tiffany Gaura and her five- and eight-year-old daughters arrived at a facility with hallways covered entirely in plastic after flying back to Calgary from Egypt, one of the countries covered under the Canadian government's travel restrictions.
"We get very unhealthy meals dropped at our door, three times a day. There's a security guard outside the rooms. I mean, you can't go outside. There's no fresh air," she told CTV News.
"I was not at all mentally prepared for that sort of a welcome"
It was a similar experience for Jessica Sirois, who had to stay at a quarantine facility in Toronto after returning from Egypt.
"I spent all night last night trying to call the front desk to get water to my room and some fruit or something healthy because they give you basically carbs," Sirois told CTV News.
For Sarah Mossad, who also flew back to Toronto from Egypt, her room didn't even have heating and the only water that was available was from the rusty bathroom faucets. She told CTV News that she had to wait until 4 p.m. the next day for a room change.
"I just had to wear a lot of sweaters that day, which I didn't have a lot of, coming back from Cairo's 30-degree weather," she said.
"You're in this room with poor ventilation, not knowing when if you're going to get basic needs like water and things like that."
Travellers are also reporting that they're being left in the dark by quarantine officers after they receive their test results.
Sirois had already received her negative results for her arrival test. But as of Monday afternoon, she had not received any word from quarantine officers on when she could go back home.
"I just actually got an email saying that my PCR tests came back negative again. No one has contacted me in terms of when I can go home. Like, I have no idea." she said. "I don't have COVID but they're treating me like a criminal."
Sirois isn't the only one who has had to deal with a lack of communication. Mossad had to wait 36 hours to hear from an officer after she got her negative test result.
"I was up all night, waiting for my negative test. As soon as I got it, I called and told them that I had a negative test. No calls were returned, no information," she told CTV News.
Things got so bad for Mossad, she ended up calling 911 out of panic and frustration after there was no answer from any of the phone numbers that she was provided.
"It was like really mentally tough. You know, I just wasn't sure if we were going to spend two more days there. I wasn't sure if we were going to ever leave," she said.
Public Safety Minister defended the federal quarantine facilities when asked about the conditions on Monday.
"We're not going to spare any expense or resources when it comes to protecting Canadians, including at the border. We're going to continue to provide clear travel guidance to all Canadians and others who are travelling to Canada," he told reporters.
Mark Johnson, a spokesperson for the Public Health Agency of Canada, told CTV National News in an email statement that the agency is working to boost its capacity to let people go home closer to the time they receive their negative test results.
“Every traveller staying at a designated quarantine facility has access to 24-hour support and ongoing medical monitoring,” Johnson said.
There's no timeline on how long these measures for those coming from the 10 designated countries will remain in place. For travellers who are cleared to leave the quarantine facilities, they'll have to continue to quarantine at home until it's been 14 days and get another COVID-19 test on day eight of their quarantine.
Another suspect is in custody in connection with the gold heist at Toronto Pearson International Airport last year, police say.
Hailey and Justin Bieber are going to be parents. The couple announced the news on Thursday on Instagram, both sharing a video that showcases Hailey Bieber's growing belly.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Conservative government led by Pierre Poilievre would not legislate on, nor use the notwithstanding clause, on abortion, his office says, as anti-abortion protesters gather on Parliament Hill.
A southwestern Ontario woman has received an $8,400 bill from a hospital in Windsor, Ont., after she refused to put her mother in a nursing home she hated -- and she says she has no intention of paying it.
Studies have shown that ultraprocessed foods can have a detrimental impact on health. But 30 years of research show they don’t all have the same impact.
Miss Teen USA resigned Wednesday, sending further shock waves through the pageant community just days after Miss USA said she would relinquish her crown.
A B.C. man has been convicted of assault with a weapon after using a skid-steer Bobcat to chase two homeless people from his lawn, injuring one of them in the process.
A grieving mother is speaking out after her 36-year-old son was shot and killed in North Preston, N.S., Wednesday night.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
A small Ajax dessert shop that recently received a glowing review from celebrity food critic Keith Lee is being forced to move after a zoning complaint was made following the social media influencer’s visit last month.
The Canada Science and Technology Museum is inviting visitors to explore their poop. A new exhibition opens at the Ottawa museum on Friday called, 'Oh Crap! Rethinking human waste.'
The Regina Police Service says it is the first in Saskatchewan and possibly Canada to implement new technology in its detention facility that will offer real-time monitoring of detainees’ vital health metrics.
The stakes have been set for a bet between Vancouver and Edmonton's mayors on who will win Round 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
A grieving mother is hosting a helmet drive in the hopes of protecting children on Manitoba First Nations from a similar tragedy that killed her daughter.
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
A P.E.I. lighthouse and a New Brunswick river are being honoured in a Canada Post series.
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.