Canadian Woman Was Detained for Not Taking Tuberculosis Medication — But There's More to It

In mid-December 2024, a rumor circulated online that Canada was imprisoning citizens who refused to take government-mandated medication. 

The claim featured prominently on X (archived), where one post (archived) had amassed more than 2.3 million views as of this writing. 

(X user @liz_churchill10)

Both X users included a screenshot of an article (archived) by conservative media outlet The People's Voice (TPV), which describes itself as "committed to covering the headlines mainstream outlets shy away from" and focused "on conservative issues for our largely conservative audiences."

TPV's article, the headline of which reads: "Canada Imprisoning Citizens Who Refuse to Take Government-Mandated Medication," focuses on Geraldine Mason from the province of Manitoba. It claims she was "sent to prison for three months under the Public Health Act for not consistently taking her tuberculosis medication."

In short, while some of the details outlined in TPV's story have been reported on by reputable news outlets, cases like Mason's are rare and the result of a provincial law, which means the law only covers the province of Manitoba, not the country of Canada.

Manitoba's law did at one point allow health officers to detain people who are a "threat to public health," but it does not require people to take medication if they refuse to do so. TPV's story is also out-of-date because it was published before Dec. 15, by which point Manitoba had banned incarcerating people under the Public Health Act, according to a Dec. 2, 2024, report by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), which first investigated Mason's story.

A spokesperson for the Canadian government's public health agency said quarantine, treatment and vaccination mandates all fall under provincial jurisdiction and aren't the responsibility of the country's government.

Snopes also asked representatives of Canada's nine other provinces and three territories whether their public health laws allow imprisonment of people who are a "threat to public health." Quebec, British Columbia and Northwest Territories had responded as of this writing. All three governments said people may be surveilled in a hospital or home setting until they are no longer infectious, and these sorts of orders are largely only used for tuberculosis. 

Quebec and Northwest Territories' spokespeople said imprisonment is not allowed under these sorts of public health directives, while British Columbia said it could be considered in "extremely unusual circumstances," but the spokesperson was unaware of it ever happening. 

Unpacking Manitoba's Public Health Act 

According to another Dec. 2 CBC article, Mason was incarcerated for a month after not consistently taking her tuberculosis medication, even though she was no longer infectious. Snopes approached Manitoba's government for confirmation of this, but it could not comment on this specific case.

Health officials originally ordered that she be detained for three months, which is likely where TPV's claim of three months comes from. Under Manitoba's Public Health Act, a health official may apply for a court order to "apprehend" anyone who presents a threat to public health. Here's the text from the law: 

Manitoba's Public Health Act also includes a provision for an "emergency detention order" that can involve apprehending and detaining someone if a person presents a "serious and immediate threat to public health" and fails to follow a medical officer's order to isolate, quarantine and take other various precautions to prevent the spread of disease.

53(3) An emergency detention order may require one or more of the following:

1. that a person be apprehended and taken to and detained in a place specified in the order;

2. that a person be isolated, quarantined or hospitalized;

3. that a person take any precautions the medical officer reasonably considers necessary to contain the immediate threat of transmission of the communicable disease. 

But the law also clearly states that "despite any other provision of this Act, no person is required to comply with an order made under this Act requiring him or her to receive treatment or be immunized, if the person objects to the treatment or immunization." 

Cases similar to Mason's have occurred before, according to news reports cited by CBC. For example, the article includes links to a Winnipeg Free Press story from 2008 and a Globe and Mail story from 2011, both of which report on different women being jailed after not taking tuberculosis treatment. A spokesperson for Manitoba's government said via email that cases like these happened "in rare circumstances, often with only a single case occurring within a calendar year and sometimes no cases at all."

Furthermore, the same day CBC's investigation came out, Premier of Manitoba Wab Kinew said that, after reading the story, he immediately requested an order to end the practice. A video of him responding to CBC's reporting is available on CBC's website. Here's a full transcript of the video: 

Reporter: Premier Kinew, today CBC published a story about Geraldine Mason, a woman from God's Lake Narrows who was put in jail for a month because she had tuberculosis. I guess my first question for you is: What do you say to Geraldine, who spent a month in jail, not charged with a crime? 

Kinew: It's terrible. I'd say sorry. I read the story this morning, I reached out to the two most senior people in the government and I said: "Get me an order to ensure nobody is ever jailed for having tuberculosis again." I haven't had a chance to speak to him directly, but I understand that Dr. Roussin is going to sign a public health order to that effect today. 

The "Dr. Roussin" Kinew was referring to was Dr. Brent Roussin, Manitoba's chief provincial public health officer.

CBC reported that it was provided a copy of the signed directive on Dec. 3, 2024, the day after the news outlet broke Mason's story. Kyla Willms, a spokesperson for Manitoba's cabinet, also provided Snopes with a copy of the directive, dated Dec. 2, 2024, and signed by Roussin. The directive specifies that people must be detained in a health care facility, removing the possibility of detention in a prison or jail setting. Here's the language in the directive (emphasis is ours): 

Pursuant to section 11(3) of The Public Health Act, I am providing direction as follows:

- Prior to seeking an application for an order to detain an individual pursuant to section 49 of The Public Health Act, consideration should be given to whether an order under s. 49(2)( e) of the Act requiring the individual to present themselves for admission to a hospital or other facility, and remain there once admitted, is sufficient to protect the health of the public.

- In the event it is determined detention is required, prior to the detention order being sought, arrangements must be made for detention of the individual in a health care facility for the duration of their detention.

- The Justice making the order should be advised that these arrangements have been put in place and the MOH must request that the order provide the patient is to be detained at the health care facility per those arrangements.

This direction will continue until further notice.