A Red Deer mother says confusion over COVID-19 test result paperwork led to her son being detained at Calgary International Airport. (Photo: The Canadian Press)

By Troy Gillard

covid testing controversy

Red Deer mother seeks accountability following son’s detainment at Calgary airport

Feb 4, 2021 | 11:27 AM

A Red Deer mother wants accountability after she says her son was detained because his COVID-19 test results were considered inadequate.

Rebekah McDonald posted an emotional video to social media on Sunday after her 20-year-old son Ethan – whom she hadn’t seen in two years while he was living in Arizona – was reportedly detained upon landing at Calgary International Airport.

McDonald said Ethan was taken by masked strangers, loaded into a van and taken to an undisclosed location without saying when the family might be able to speak with him.

She said in the video that she was told, “We are taking him for an undisclosed amount of time to an undisclosed place, where he will be tested and we will decide when he’s released.”

McDonald said they later learned that the COVID-19 test Ethan did before flying home wasn’t the correct one and that he needed to be retested. She said his getting the wrong test in Arizona was due to “human error.”

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The federal government requires travellers provide a negative result from a molecular polymerase chain reaction test, commonly referred to as a PCR test, no more than 72 hours before a flight’s schedule departure time.

In a follow-up video Wednesday morning, McDonald explained that Ethan in fact had done two tests – a PCR test and an antigen test – but only had paperwork for the latter which is why he was taken into custody.

“We only knew of the PCR test being done. So when they gave him a negative result we assumed that it was the test we ordered, the PCR test,” she said. “We didn’t know that he had both tests done. So when he got on the plane with his papers it was for the antigen test and that is why they pulled him out.”

McDonald says the lack of transparency over what happened to him and why is a major concern.

“They could have told us anything. They made such a big scene about it (and) it should have never been done that way,” she suggested, also saying there’s no need to treat people like criminals and for there to be so much secrecy.

“He did get an email on Sunday morning while he was in there and it was for his second negative PCR test that had come back,” she pointed out. “So he now had two negative tests sitting there and no way to tell them. He had to wait it out for their third test they had done and be released when they saw fit, when that one came back negative on Monday.”

McDonald said she’s also concerned over a lack of accountability over what happened.

“Everybody was quick to put their hands up and nobody wanted to deal with it or to help, and I felt extremely helpless,” she said.

“The problem is when you have a one-sided system like what the federal government has done here, that has no checks and balances, nobody you can call for help, nobody to ask questions to. You go in there under the (premise) that you are going to be taken care of and safe, but there’s nobody watching out for that.

“Say you do test positive, then you’re sent somewhere else for two weeks with even less accountability. And for me that was the scariest part,” she added.

“I think regardless of what you think about the government and their ability to take away your rights and freedoms in the name of health, no matter where you stand on that – and I understand that it is across the board and everyone’s situation is different – should there be allowed to be a system that has all power and control with no checks and no balances and no accountability? That was my biggest problem with the whole thing. I want accountability.”

Premier Jason Kenney expressed concern this week on Twitter, saying “We understand the need for quarantine requirements, but ask that federal agencies be more transparent. People entering Canada have an obligation to inform themselves about and comply with testing and quarantine requirements. But federal agencies like CBSA and PHAC could avoid a lot of anger and confusion if they were more transparent about where people will be staying, etc.”

Red Deer-South MLA Jason Stephan weighed in with an op-ed released on Tuesday.

“Certainly everyone should be concerned about what our government is doing to its citizens. However, S. 1 of the Charter allows the government to infringe on rights where it is reasonably and demonstrably justifiable in a free and democratic society,” says Maurice Collard, founding partner with Advocate Law in Red Deer which has experience in defending Charter-related cases.

“While clearly Charter rights are being infringed it will be up to a Court to determine if that is justifiable,” he notes. “It will take time for arrests and these charges to work their way through the courts. These matters are unfolding very quickly but I have no doubt that there will be significant litigation in court to fight these charges and arrests.”