N.L. appeals court won't hear case about constitutionality of COVID-19 travel restrictions

Newfoundland and Labrador's Court of Appeal won't hear a case that made national headlines debating the constitutionality of the province's COVID-19 travel restrictions in 2020.

The appeal was launched by Kim Taylor of Nova Scotia, who was barred from travelling to Newfoundland and Labrador on May 5, 2020, to attend her mother's funeral.

That same day, the Newfoundland and Labrador government had amended Bill 38, the Public Health Protection and Promotion Act, to give police the power to detain people found in non-compliance with public health orders. A public health order also prohibited entry to anyone except those travelling for work, relocating for work or permanent residents.

John Drover, representing Taylor, and Rosellen Sullivan, representing the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, argued the travel ban was a breach of constitutional rights, including Section 6 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms — which allows Canadians to move throughout the country freely.

The ban was upheld in provincial Supreme Court in September 2020, when Justice Donald Burrage said the ban did infringe on Section 6 but was protected by Section 1, which allows for reasonable exemptions to the charter.

In a ruling issued by the Court of Appeal on Tuesday, the court decided that hearing the appeal was moot due to the fact that the amendments in question — the special measures order the government put in place in May 2020 and removed in February 2022 — are no longer in place.

The ruling also says the "adversarial relationship" between the involved parties has ended, which was a key factor in deciding not to hear the appeal.

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