劲爆大瓜

鈥淎t least you are not trapped in a third-world country.鈥�

That鈥檚 the response a Tsawwassen couple received from an embassy official in Hawaii as they tried for two months to get back home.

Caught up in the COVID-19 pandemic, what was a wonderful, annual trip for retirees Maryanna and Steve Carlsen, turned into an anxiety-filled travel nightmare trying to get out of Maui and back to Canada.

鈥淲e were stuck for two months because we couldn鈥檛 get a flight out. They cancelled our flight eight times,鈥� said Maryanna. 鈥淭hey were cancelled several times by several airlines. I called the Federal Government and someone contacted me from Honolulu and I believe it was someone from the Australian embassy working with Canadian officials and she said the choice was to buy another ticket from another airline.鈥�

Maryanna said she told the officials that they had already bought tickets with WestJet and Air Canada.

鈥淚 again told her that I was not being reimbursed for these flights. The airlines gave us a voucher, but who wants to travel in these times,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檝e got money invested and if I don鈥檛 travel then I lose it. We had two extra months we had to stay there, so that鈥檚 $2,000 a month rent and she tells me, 鈥榶ou are not in a third-world country.鈥�

Maryanna said she fully realized that, but their insurance had expired, and Steve鈥檚 medication was running out鈥�all raising their anxiety levels of the situation they were in.

鈥淵ou just can鈥檛 go to a doctor and get a prescription refilled and since our insurance expired, we couldn鈥檛 get it renewed because we were out of the country,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very expensive. We were desperate. We were in so much stress because we had no idea when we could leave.鈥�

Eventually the couple was able to get back to their home on May 9 after getting through the quarantine protocols.

鈥淲e tried in March to get back and then all the cancellations with the flights,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou would think as a Canadian citizen you would get some help. There were so many people stranded in Maui鈥�we were not the only ones鈥�all were Canadian citizens. Why could they [government] not get a plane together and get us out? Talk to the airlines and make sure all the Canadians are on one plane and they are able to leave. They [government] should have done something.

鈥淵ou think that being a Canadian is a privileged, which I still do, but you pay taxes and your government should do something for you.鈥�

Now the couple is out all that additional money for the cancelled flights and the extra rent costs.

鈥淲e plan these trips very frugally,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 felt very disappointed in our government. We could not predict COVID-19, no one could, but it kind of opens your eyes to certain things.鈥�