Barrie MPs say they're working around the clock with their staff to bring constituents home who are trapped in foreign countries amid the COVID-19 global pandemic.
Barrie-Innisfil MP John Brassard said this morning that he has around 25 constituents stranded in places such as Peru, Cuba, Mexico, Morocco and several European countries that are on lockdown with no commercial flights scheduled.
He expects that number to grow in the coming days as the travel situation becomes even more urgent and more commercial flights are grounded.
As recently as Friday morning, Brassard said his office has been getting more calls from help, adding some people abroad are in dire need due to a lack of required medication in some instances, such as diabetes and other pre-existing ailments.
“If I had a family member who was in this situation … my wife and I would be just as anxious as everybody is,” Brassard said from his Barrie home, where he's in self-isolation following recent air travel.
However, Brassard says it does not appear government-sponsored repatriation flights to pick up Canadians will be happening anytime soon.
Despite government warnings up to two weeks ago urging Canadians to return home as soon as possible, Brassard said there were some people who still decided to travel and now they are trapped in various countries around the globe.
“Unless they find alternative ways, they will be stuck in those destinations for some time,” said Brassard.
That will lead to more panic among trapped Canadians as they clamour to find ways home once they exhaust all of their dwindling options, he added.
“That’s the situation we’re in right now,” Brassard said.
Meanwhile, Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte MP Doug Shipley says he has about 18 local residents stranded in areas such as Central America, South America and seven others in the United States.
And those are just the ones he says he knows about at the moment.
“That’s the problem. There’s still a lot of people there that are not calling our office direct,” Shipley said. “Some are just calling trying to get flights. We’re getting more every day.”
Thursday was a busy day for Shipley’s staff and leading into this morning with “the phone literally ringing off the hook.” He says he has implemented an “all-hands-on-deck approach” during this “very urgent and desperate situation.”
“People are really starting to realize the severity of the situation, which, regrettably, they didn’t a couple of weeks ago,” Shipley said. “People are now, understandably, panicking to get home and we’re trying to do everything we can to get them home.
"I would be the same. Being a family guy, I’d want to be home, too," he added.
For Canadians in the United States, it’s going to become “even tougher” Friday night when heightened restrictions for non-essential travel take effect on the U.S.-Canada border, Shipley said.
Elsewhere around the world, many people were trying to ride out the situation in hopes of “jumping on a plane, but now the planes are being cancelled and the opportunities aren’t there,” he added.
“The No. 1 priority for my staff is to bring those people home, but it’s not easy and, quite frankly, I’m losing sleep over it.”
Shipley is even pleading with corporations that may have access to planes able to travel long distances in an effort to leave no stone unturned in bringing people back to Canada.
“We’re literally trying every single thing we can. It would be life-changing for a lot of people,” he said. “I wish we did have a magic wand and I’d bring all these people home myself.
“If anyone ever wanted to step up, now would be a very appreciated time to do it,” said Shipley, adding he understands it would come with significant logistical hurdles to overcome. “At least it would be a start.
"We’re all just stretching now. If you’d told me two months ago that we’d be having a conversation about Canadians stranded all over the world and we’d be talking about planes to get them home, you’d have called me crazy at the time. Any idea now is on the table," Shipley added.
Brassard says it’s a very tenuous and complicated situation, however, with lots of moving parts. Difficulties could include access to closed airspace, finding an open airport, and reassurance that flight crews won’t be quarantined.
“You need to be sure Canadians in the country can move and all of this is negotiated on a country-by-country basis,” he added.
Peru, where Brassard says hundreds of Canadians are trapped, has been an especially difficult situation due to the clampdown and military personnel patrolling the streets, Brassard said.
“We’re going to continue to try and push, but ultimately the decision to send repatriation flights is that of the prime minister and his government,” said Brassard, adding there has been "a clear indication not to expect any repatriation flight to occur."
“We simply, as an Opposition, can't order a government-sponsored flight down to Peru or any other country,” he added, “so we’re raising the profile of the situation of Canadians that are stuck abroad, not just in Peru but in other areas, too."
In other places around the world, the MP said there are simply no commercial flights to be found.
“I certainly understand the situation people are in and the anxiety they are going through,” said Brassard.
