$10K+ in COVID fines thrown out after Canadian sought addiction treatment in Mexico

Fight The Fines

Reporting on and fighting the pandemic fines.

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Abram and Maria Sawatzky made a decision that may have saved Abram's life that resulted in enormous COVID fines. But thanks to your donations to www.FightTheFines.com and the work of the incredible legal team from Grey Wowk Spencer LLP, those fines have been tossed out of court.

Abram was suffering from a deadly drug addiction so he made the decision with Maria to seek comprehensive treatment in Mexico to get clean, get his health back and reclaim himself from the demon of addiction. For the Horndean, Manitoba Sawatzky family, it was a hard and frightening thing to do, not to mention expensive. But for Abram, it was truly life or death.

Abram and Maria tried their best to follow the rules.

The pair took COVID tests in Mexico before they left on their journey home. They also took two more COVID tests in Fargo, North Dakota. All those tests came back negative. And yet, when the couple tried to cross back into Canada, Canadian border officials said their tests were “invalid” and issued his and hers fines of $5,150 each! To add insult to $10,000 worth of injury, they were not allowed to complete their obligatory COVID quarantine in their home, because according to Abram they had a Mexican phone number.

When we first heard Abram and Maria's story, we knew we had to help them. Opioid addiction and overdoses have skyrocketed during the lockdown due to despair, isolation and easy money. Abram and Maria were doing everything they could to make sure that Abram didn't become a statistic, another lockdown death, and instead they were hammered with $10,000 in fines just as Abram was coming home to start a new life.

This is a good news story made possible by you. It's a great way to start the new year, but unfortunately, there is so much work left to do. There are 2,200 other people, business owners, churches and pastors in the www.FightTheFines.com system who still need help. To donate, please visit www.FightTheFines.com.

Thank you to everyone who has donated and continues to donate at www.FightTheFines.com. Your tax-deductible donations through a partnership with the registered Canadian charity The Democracy Fund are changing lives and helping people who are being punished for just trying to live.