In a report in Canada’s Travel Industry Today says that despite the Canadian Government opening its borders to US citizens in August, the US has said no and is keeping the border closed.
The report says that in an absurd and unnecessary decision by the USA, Canadians hoping to hop down to the US again this summer will have to wait a little longer with the US Department of Homeland Security extending its COVID-19 travel restrictions on Canada for at least another 30 days.
The decision comes despite the Canadian government’s decision to begin easing its own restrictions on fully vaccinated US citizens and permanent residents as of August 9.
The restriction on land border crossings into the US (which includes Mexico) continuing until at least August 21 comes as little surprise as Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said after Canada’s announcement on Monday that Homeland Security Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas had warned him the US would not be following Canada’s lead.
The decision from Homeland and US Customs and Border Protection acknowledged “positive developments” in the fight against COVID-19, particularly with regards to vaccination rates in both countries, but said the risk of travel-related transmission continues to pose a “specific threat to human life or national interests.”
Allowing normal travel to resume “places the personnel staffing land ports of entry between the United States and Canada, as well as the individuals travelling through these ports of entry, at increased risk of exposure to the virus associated with COVID-19,” it said.
Ironically, Canada has soared past its southern neighbour and is leading the world in vaccinations, while rates in the US have stalled and a resurgence of the virus, primarily of the highly infectious delta variant, is gripping the country.
Border experts say the Biden administration is likely not ready to open the US-Mexico border, given the existing refugee crisis there, and wants both frontiers opened at the same time.
Wednesday’s announcement was met with outrage from US critics and lawmakers who have been pressing the White House to ease the restrictions, in place since March 2020.
New York Rep. Brian Higgins, one of the most vocal proponents of border reciprocity, says he’s “infuriated” with the decision, which he calls “completely unnecessary.”
Meanwhile, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu called the US decision to extend the border closure “absurd.”, adding, “It harms our small businesses and families, and does not follow the science,” and “Canada has announced they will open their borders to fully vaccinated Americans, and it’s time the United States follows suit.”
The US Travel Association agreed, with executive VP Tori Emerson Barnes stating, “Canada made the right call in releasing a timeline for vaccinated Americans to cross the land border and visit, and it is past time that the US reciprocates”, adding, “There is no difference between a fully vaccinated Canadian and a fully vaccinated American”, and “We urge the Biden administration to determine a date and a plan as quickly as possible to welcome Canadian visitors at US land borders.”
The decision was met with anger north of the border as well.
The bilateral “road map” for a renewed cross-border partnership, issued by President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau back in February, promised a science-based, co-ordinated approach to reopening the border, said Perrin Beatty, president and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce”, adding, “Less than five months later, Washington appears to have lost its copy,” noting the discrepancy in the US approach adding Americans can travel freely within their borders, and air travel from Canada to the US remains unfettered.
He added: “It’s hard to see how allowing fully vaccinated Canadians to enter the US poses a public health threat when travel within the US is unrestricted.”
John Adams, a Florida resident who owns a vacation property on Vancouver Island, has been crowdfunding a cross-border television and internet ad campaign against the two governments in recent weeks to convince them to lower the barriers.
Adams called the extension a “bonehead decision by the Biden administration”, saying he’s now setting his sights squarely on the White House with a new ad to be completed by the end of the week.
On Tuesday, the prime minister acknowledged that Canada would have little influence on American border policy, adding, “They will follow their science, they will make their own decisions, and we will work with them to make sure that we’re co-ordinating as best as possible,” Trudeau said, adding, “But Canada is not going to any more dictate what the US should be doing around its border policy than we would accept the US to dictate to us around our border policy.”
The report says Trudeau might have noted that neither does the US government listen to some of its own constituents (like Higgins), then again, Canada’s federal government continues to advise Canadians against travelling outside the country due to the threat of infection from the continuing and resurgent COVID-19 pandemic.
And according to recent polls, a majority of Canadians still agree.
An edited report from Canada’s Travel Industry Today by John Alwyn-Jones, Special Correspondent Travel and Tourism, Global Travel Media
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