Cancún party flight passengers lose jobs, face fines and prison

In the ongoing fallout from the Montreal to Cancún party flight, two of the passengers have faced consequences after being recognized in the videos that flooded social and mainstream media this week. Journal de Montréal reports that Frédérique Dumas-Joyal was fired from her job with Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) and real estate broker Karl Bernard was suspended by his employer, Sutton.

L’influenceuse au string rouge en guise de masque, Frédérique Dumas-Joyal, perd son emploi à l’AMF.
⁦@tvanouvelles⁩ pic.twitter.com/RfjsMmDm3V

— Yves Poirier (@poirieryvesTVA) January 7, 2022

Meanwhile, TVA reports that 27 of the 187 passengers from the chartered Sunwing flight have returned on four different flights, have been tested for COVID-19 and questioned by Transport Canada, public health authorities and other officials. After being banned by Sunwing, Air Transat and Air Canada, some of the passengers managed to slip through the cracks and return on Wednesday night before Air Canada had obtained all the passenger details from Sunwing. Others travelled 1,500 kilometres from Cancun to Panama City to return to Montreal on Thursday night on Copa Airlines.

Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said in a press conference today that the Sûreté du Québec will enforce the mandatory quarantine of all passengers. 

La Presse reported today that many of the passengers either had fake vaccine passports or none at all, and weren’t properly checked prior to boarding the chartered flight last Thursday. Though Canada Border Services Agency would not confirm or deny this claim, or reveal whether/how many of the returning passengers had tested positive for COVID, a spokesperson said, “A person who presents false information about their immunization status or falsified COVID-19 test results could be subject to a fine of up to $ 750,000, six months in jail or both.” One passenger, who is isolating in Tulum, revealed that she had tested positive for COVID.

Trip organizer James William Awad could also face large fines because he’s not a licensed travel agent, according to Journal de Montréal. Awad claimed that he was within his rights to organize the trip through his company 111 Private Club, then later said in the same interview that he had used a travel agency but wouldn’t disclose its name.

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