Passengers said convoy carrying passengers: Charter flight with unvaccinated passengers

Transport Canada is considering a charter flight that brought supporters of the so-called Freedom Delegation from Western Canada to Ottawa last month, to ensure passengers are properly screened for COVID-19 vaccinations.

According to one of the passengers on the flight, some people on the flight were unvaccinated, apparently in violation of a federal government regulation that requires most air and rail passengers to present their passports. vaccinated before travelling.

“Transport Canada has been notified of the incident and is following up with the airline operator to ensure compliance,” Transport Canada spokesman Sau Sau Liu said in an email.

At a bail hearing for protest organizer Tamara Lich last month, her husband Dwayne testified that he arrived in Ottawa on 2 February on a “private plane”, at expenses incurred by a benefactor he identifies as “Joseph pays”.

In fact, the plane they were on was much less epic – a twin-engine turboprop with limited range that had to stop several times en route to Ottawa.

“The plane was not a private jet,” said Chad Eros, an accountant from Saskatchewan who traveled to Ottawa to help protesters with GoFundMe issues. superpower that takes us through space and time.

Eros now identifies himself as the “co-chair, Human Rights and Freedoms Freedom 2022,” the federal company he founded to receive crowdfunding.

In a Facebook video, Eros said he helped arrange a flight to bring in the lawyers, who were also helping the convoy to Ottawa. He said he suggested using a charter flight because some people who came to protest in Ottawa were unable to fly on a commercial flight due to the federal government’s vaccine regulation last fall.

“They don’t even know how they’re going to get to Ottawa because so many of them are unvaccinated,” he said.

In fact, according to Transport Canada, passengers flying on charter flights from most Canadian airports must provide proof of their COVID-19 vaccination before boarding, with some exceptions for remote communities.

“Charter flights are included in the vaccine requirement — they carry commercial passengers and the rules apply to passengers and crew,” Transport Canada said in an email.

Other car rental companies that CTV News contacted said they require proof of vaccinations, even on private charters.

Several attorneys general from the Edmonton-based Center for Justice for Constitutional Freedom traveled to Ottawa during the rally to represent the protest organizers.

Eros said the charter company supported the protest.

“They were willing to fly us at a super reduced price, basically to save fuel,” he says in the video.

Eros said the company was affected by the vaccination order and was forced to close half of its business.

He describes a flight that stopped at Medicine Hat, Alta., to pick up Dwayne Lich, then continued on to Saskatoon, Sask., before making a last-minute detour – heading south to Regina to pick up Eros, then flew on to Ontario.

Flight records obtained by CTV News show that the same route on that date was flown by an aircraft operated by Northern Air Charter (PR) Inc., an airline operator based in Peace River, Alberta, operating.

The company’s Beech Super King Air 200 aircraft departed Calgary in the early morning of February 2, then bound for Edmonton, Medicine Hat, Saskatoon, Regina, Winnipeg and Thunder Bay, before arriving in Ottawa at 10:05 pm, 13 hours later.

Northern Air’s chairman, Nathan Hilman, did not respond to repeated phone calls, emails and fax requests for comment.

In addition to the leases, the company provided scheduled service from Peace River to destinations in Western Canada, but has suspended routes due to the pandemic, according to its website.

Chad Eros also did not respond to CTV News’ questions about the flight and who financed the flight.