Health committee  I don't think it actually is a concern, because as Dr. Clarke pointed out, it's a matter of risk management. From a practical point of view, if we have sick Americans or anyone coming to the Canadian–American border, those people are much more likely to be identified as having a

Health committee  Then when they actually land at the border, through the customs officials or the quarantine officers, those people will also be required to identify, or they can be identified at that point.

Health committee  I think it would just be common sense for either the bus driver or the person, if he's ill, if he's sick enough, to try to seek medical attention before getting to the border, because in most cases, the best medical attention would be in medical facilities on either side of the b

Health committee  I don't think we're saying that. What we're saying is that when someone is on any conveyance and becomes ill, in terms of the bus driver or the tour operator, the expectation would be that he or she would take appropriate steps to seek the best medical attention for the sick pass

Health committee  The rules notwithstanding, the point is that if someone is sick on board an airplane, it is difficult to get medical attention before landing, and therefore it makes sense to have advance reporting so the necessary arrangements can be made at the port of entry. If someone is on a

Health committee  No. We're talking here about risk management. If a traveller is sick on a flight, we cannot send him or her to the hospital before landing at the airport. This is why it is important that the pilot notify the officials of the destination airport so that they can deploy the requir

Health committee  The purpose of advance notification is to allow sufficient time to put in place the resources and the quarantine officers required before landing because the sick person might need medical attention and it is difficult to give it in-flight. If someone arrives by bus, it leaves yo

Health committee  Yes. Under the Quarantine Act, we also have the power to intervene at the border. If the other passengers on that same flight need a follow-up, we can also put the necessary resources in place. The advance notification requirement is also to ensure a medical follow-up and support

Health committee  Thank you, Mr. Fletcher. I think you raised excellent points. I think there might be a misunderstanding with the current wording, which does not require advanced reporting for operators of land conveyances. It's not the same thing as no reporting at all. There is still a requir

Health committee  The other way to look at this is that the requirement is there for all operators of all conveyances to report and for the passengers as well to self-declare illness at the border. This advance reporting requirement is an additional practical measure so we can make the best possib

Health committee  I think another important point to make is that it would be naive to think we're going to stop infectious disease at the border with any sort of number of measures. The practical fact is that many infectious diseases, based on the incubation periods and when people actually decla

Health committee  I am sorry, but I may have misspoken. It is not a cost issue but a matter of risk management. As I explained earlier, the mandatory reporting of a sick person on a plane or a ship is to make available the necessary resources at the point of entry. If someone gets ill on a bus, th

Health committee  There are controls at the present time. In fact, when you arrive at the border, it is mandatory—

Health committee  In terms of risk management, I do not believe that it is practical to notify before arriving at the border. There are many potential options to deal with the problem ahead of time. If there is a sick person on a bus, you can notify the border officials, but if the situation gets

Health committee  No. As was mentioned earlier, we are talking about an international standard. In doing so, Canada might become the only country in the world with that requirement.