Us Congress to open the border to Canadians
Disappointed by the federal government once again postaging the opening of the U.S. border, a Democratic elected official from New York State simply could no longer and proposed to the White House to reopen the border unilaterally for Canadians.
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“When you close the border in the middle of a tourist season for the second year in a row, it hurts both Canadians and Americans,” Higgins said in an interview with CTV News on Sunday.
The latter denounces the fact that there is no information on the reopening of the border, the Canadian government merely stating that it is “doing everything in its power” to allow a gradual reopening of the border.
On Friday, federal Public Safety Minister Bill Blair announced on his Twitter account that the Canada-U.S. border and restrictions on international travel were being extended until July 21. Justin Trudeau had said later in the day that Canada must reach the threshold of 75% of the population having received a first dose of covid-19 vaccine and 20% that would be fully vaccinated before relaxing the measures, a stage reached over the weekend.
“With the NHL getting a travel exemption not based on science or data, it’s a slap in the face for families who have been separated for 15 months, for people who haven’t been able to visit, enjoy, maintain their properties in the last 15 months, and it’s not good when it comes to U.S.-Canada relations.” said Mr. Higgins.
A lot of pressure on Trudeau (Us Congress to open the border to Canadians)
The American elected official is not alone in putting pressure on the Canadian government to reopen the border. On June 2, federal Liberals Nathaniel Erskine-Smith and Wayne Esther joined their voices to put pressure on their leader to reopen the border.
“It is time for our governments to listen to the experts and share a fact-based plan to reunite families, resume normal operations at the border and restore our interconnected economies,” the three elected officials had pleaded in a joint letter.
On Thursday, Shopify president Harley Finkelstein shared his views on the situation on Twitter. “It’s the wrong decision. The effects for Canada are enormous. We need to open the border immediately to fully vaccinated travellers,” he said.
Business Council of Canada President and CEO Goldy Hyder said the extension is “extremely disappointing” and shows a lack of preparation.
“We knew that day was coming when more and more people would be vaccinated and they will want to know what the benefits of this vaccination are,” he said in an interview with CTV. “The use of expressions like ‘we are working’ is very worrying, and it erodes public and business confidence,” he added.
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