Provencher Member of Parliament Ted Falk says new travel restrictions being considered by the federal government are a little excessive.

Last week, the Liberals announced that they intend to require all air travellers arriving in Canada, with very limited exceptions, to quarantine in a government-designated hotel for three nights, and take a COVID-19 molecular test on arrival. All of this would be done at their own cost, which according to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, could be in the neighbourhood of $2,000 per person.

"It's not necessary," suggests Falk.

Falk says for a long time now, the Conservatives have been requesting the Government Of Canada secure Abbott's rapid tests for airports. Falk suggests it is a proven test with 97 percent sensitivity rate and can be administered easily with results in 15 minutes.

Falk says a much simpler solution would be to use the rapid test on travellers as they enter Canada. The travellers could be tested and then placed in a room. Then, based on the results 15 minutes later, they could determine whether that traveller needs to go to a quarantine centre or can head home to isolate for 14 days.

"The three-day mandatory stay in a hotel of the government's choice, I don't think there is any need for that," he says.

Falk says all travellers coming by air into Canada must already be tested for COVID-19 within 72 hours of departure, making this additional test being considered, excessive.

Falk says it is not the 14-day self-isolation that he is concerned about. He notes that the system has been working well and it seems most travellers have come to accept that.

"I think where the problem has come in is they have provided way too many exemptions for well-connected individuals, billionaires and Liberal friends to not have to quarantine and I think probably that's where some of the issues have come in," he says.

Falk notes he has been in contact with several constituents who are outside the country and considering a return in the near future. In some scenarios, the constituents are considering extending their stay until perhaps the restrictions are changed or lifted. He notes other travellers do not have the same flexibility in their schedule and are just hoping that these new restrictions will not be enforced when they return home.

"More restrictions are not a solution," says Falk. "Lockdowns and restrictions were enacted to buy governments time to find permanent solutions. Rapid testing, vaccines, variant testing capacity, therapeutics, these tools all now exist. We should be using these tools to reduce or eliminate quarantine times, like our allies around the world are doing, not adding new restrictions."

Meanwhile, a new poll suggests the majority of Canadians support tighter restrictions on international travel imposed by the federal government. A story by The Canadian Press states 86 per cent of respondents agree with stricter measures that suspend flights to most sun destinations and require quarantining at a hotel at the passenger’s expense upon arrival in Canada. The statistics come from an online survey by Léger and the Association for Canadian Studies.

The poll also found that 87 per cent of respondents think the government should go further by banning international travel until there are several consecutive days of reduced COVID-19 numbers.

The online poll surveyed 1,559 Canadians between January 29th and 31st. It cannot be assigned a margin of error because Internet-based polls are not considered random samples.