Rod Phillips and his wife have been out of the country since mid-December.

However, the finance minister says in a statement, if he’d known that the province would be in lockdown as of Boxing Day, they would not have gone.

”Immediately following the end of the Legislative Session, which occurred on December 8th, my wife and I departed on a previously planned personal trip outside of the country,” Phillips wrote.

”Had I been aware then of the eventual December 26th province wide shutdown, we would have cancelled the trip.

”We will continue to observe public health directives, including the 14-day quarantine,” he added.

The minister’s office says Phillips left for the trip December 13, is still out of the country and will be in quarantine upon his return.  

Opposition deputy leader Sara Singh says Premier Doug Ford cannot give Phillips a free pass while telling everyone else to stay home.

Meanwhile, the Public Health Agency of Canada advises against non-essential travel and reminds all travellers returning to Canada that violating the mandatory quarantine can lead to severe penalties.

Travel restrictions and border measures have been in effect since March.