After an investigation that lasted nearly four months, hefty fines were imposed on some passengers affiliated with the travel agency Sunwing in late December, including fines for not being vaccinated.

The Canadian Transportation Agency announced on Thursday that among the 154 passengers on the Montreal to Cancun flight, 37 passengers face total fines amounting to $59,000.

The agency said in a press release that it did not provide a breakdown of amounts for each passenger, but the fines reach up to $5,000 maximum per passenger.

The flight was chartered by an event planner to transport a group to a New Year's Eve trip, including some reality TV stars in Quebec and high-profile social media personalities.

Sunwing canceled the group's return flight, and other airlines also refused to transport members of the group, leaving many of them stranded in Mexico.

Prime Minister Trudeau labeled them "barbarians." The agency wrote that "following the investigation conducted by the Canadian Transportation Agency on the Montreal-Cancun flight on December 30, 2021, the Minister of Transport, Mr. Omar Alghabra, announced today that the majority of non-compliant passengers have been sanctioned."

Some individuals were found to have committed multiple violations, with a total of 42 penalties distributed among 37 people. The Canadian Transportation Agency wrote that this includes "18 penalties for non-compliance with vaccination status and 24 penalties for failure to comply with mask-wearing instructions."

This indicates that 18 people on the flight were not fully vaccinated. Starting one month before the flight, on November 30, Canadians were not allowed to board flights or trains without being fully vaccinated.

The Canadian Health Department had already issued fines on the same flight, particularly concerning quarantine rules, but the Canadian Transportation Agency is responsible for investigating aviation safety incidents and problematic behavior on flights.

The agency also punished six people in a previous round of fines. Alghabra said in a statement, "With this investigation, we want to send a clear message that the behavior of some passengers on the Montreal-Cancun flight on December 30 is unacceptable and not allowed."