Time running out for dying Windsor woman to see parents stuck in 14-day quarantine

A Windsor woman and a local NDP MP are calling for an improved family reunification process during the Canada-U.S. border closure, saying the rules clearly differ for everyday citizens and those with money and connections to the political elite. 

A CBC News investigation has found that a top Donald Trump donor was granted a special entry exemption into Canada last month. Liz Uihlein, and two of her company's senior executives were granted special exemptions for 36-hour business trip to an office and warehouse in Milton. 

It's an exemption Shayla Costello wishes she could secure for her mother, a colorectal cancer patient in Windsor whose dying wish is to see her American parents one last time.

"My mom has gotten worse just within a couple of days. She now has delirium and all she wants is her wish to come true — just to hear her parents," Costello said Thursday.

"You just think about who you want to see when you get sick. The first person I want to see is my mom, so I can only imagine that that's what she wants as well."

The federal government has classified a number of jobs as "essential" during the global pandemic and has exempted truck drivers, airline flight crews, health-care professionals, critical infrastructure workers and some technicians from the quarantine rule. Exemptions have also been granted to hundreds of athletes. 

Who's granted exceptions?

"If you're sick and if you are just an ordinary, working-class person, you do not get access. This government has been known to do its favours for individuals and for the well-connected. What we're asking for today ... is an appeal of this particular case because it's just simply not fair," said Windsor West NDP MP Brian Masse, standing beside Costello at a news conference.

"The government, secretly in the background, has been permitting American access to Canada for less accountable and less scrutinised plans — and it seems to be the well-connected and the billionaires are getting access to Canada."

The CBC News investigation revealed Uihlein, the 75-year-old president and CEO of Uline Inc., flew to Toronto on her private jet on Aug. 25. The special entry exemption meant she was allowed her to skip Canada's mandatory 14-day quarantine for foreign travellers.

In response to CBC's story, Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said Uihlein's exemption from the mandatory 14-day quarantine period came as a result of a mistake by the Canada Border Services Agency.

When CBC News first spoke with Costello and her mother Diane earlier this month, the two said Diane's parents — her 77-year-old mother and 80-year-old father — have their own health issues that would make it difficult for them to quarantine without medical treatment for two weeks.

On Thursday, Costello said her grandparents have since entered Canada and have been in quarantine for a few days now — but her mother, Diane, might not be alive long enough to see them when that 14 day self-isolation period is up.

Costello added it's "upsetting" to know billionaire CEOs and political influencers have received special exemptions for the quarantine period, while her grandparents have not been granted the same thing to see their dying daughter.

"We've been fighting this fight for three weeks now," said Costello. "At first, they weren't able to come into Canada because my grandma does have her own health issues. She finished her treatment and then she was able to get over here after her treatment. But they could have already seen my mom within those three weeks."

Masse expressed frustration of his own during Thursday's press conference, saying time is running out. 

"There's a clock for Diane with regards to how long she has. Sadly, that is something that can't be turned back. There is also a clock that the government has put on the family in quarantine right now — and the parents are watching that clock to try to hopefully it expires before Diane sadly moves on," said Masse.

Ashley Cook, a Windsor doctor who gave birth to her baby daughter four weeks ago, has had her own share of struggles with the Canada-U.S. border closure. In May, a pregnant Cook expressed worries that her American husband wouldn't be able to attend the birth of their daughter in Canada, as rules at the time limited travel to goods and essential services.

But in early June, Canada announced it would allow immediate family members of citizens or permanent residents to enter the country.

Cook said Thursday she had attempted to enter Detroit with her daughter at the tunnel crossing one day prior. Her daughter was granted entry allowing the infant to be with her father, but Cook herself was not. Instead, Cook said she drove up to Toronto's Pearson International Airport and successfully passed through customs to fly into Detroit.

When asked about the special exemptions Canada has granted to American billionaires and influencers, Cook said she is looking at the situations through "rose-coloured glasses" since she is just about to enter the U.S. to see her family. But she said other instances of family members being separated from their loved, as is the case with Costello family, makes her "angry."

"We've seen the government give exemptions to anyone with money like celebrities and athletes this entire time. So this is just another case of someone with money being able to avoid the same restrictions that Canadian citizens have been placed under, unfortunately."

In a statement, the federal government provided the same messaging that it provided when CBC News first reached out to officials about the Costello family's situation — that the government "is unable to comment directly on this specific situation."

"[The Quarantine Act] requires anyone entering Canada, unless exempt, to isolate for 14 days if they have symptoms of COVID-19, or to quarantine (self-isolate) themselves for 14 days if they are asymptomatic in order to limit the introduction and spread of COVID-19," the statement reads.

On Wednesday, federal government officials announced Canada's border clampdown on travel could soon be adjusted to allow some new humanitarian exemptions, adding it is looking to establish a process to weigh certain travel applications on a case-by-case basis.