France weighs in on border closure
Closure could harm relationship
A major player in Canada's tourism sector found itself with an unusual ally in its fight to get the Liberal government to reopen the border — France, which warned of worsening relations between the two countries if the border remained closed.
The federal government is set to review the restrictions in place for the U.S. border next week, but the Liberals still don't appear to have a plan, said Michel Leblanc, president and CEO of the Montreal Chamber of Commerce.
He said he understands the government is still deciding what approach to take.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau refused to give any details on reopening the border, stressing only that Canada needed to be cautious.
For months, organizations like the Business Council of Canada and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce have been pushing for a plan on reopening.
The U.S. border has been closed to non-essential travel since the pandemic began more than a year ago. Most citizens of other countries are also barred from entering the country, with only a few exemptions, such as immediate family members and temporary foreign workers.
Those rules came under attack from France Tuesday, as its ambassador warned there could be consequences for the relationship between the two countries if Canada doesn't allow French tourists.
France now permits Canadians to visit the country.
“The consequence of the border closure is that there are no more visits,” Ambassador Kareen Rispal said, according to The Canadian Press. “There are no more ministers. There are no more parliamentarians. There are no visits by manufacturers. There are no visits by artists ... relationships need to be worked on every day, to nourish them.”
“We are a green country,” she said, referring to the colour system used by France to designate countries where the coronavirus is under control.
“Canada is a green country. We would be very happy if the French could return to Canada without constraints other than being doubly vaccinated, taking tests, etc. We aren't asking to return to Canada in a haphazard way.”
Rispal said she will be watching what the Canadian government does on July 21.
The Montreal tourism industry urged the Liberal government to open up the country's border to fully vaccinated visitors, calling for reopening to happen before the summer tourism season is entirely lost.
“This is why it's so important that today we make the statement very clear — you need to do it. The science is there. Everywhere in the world where public health authorities have looked at it, they say double-vaccinated people, with testing, is safe. This is not the cause of outbreaks.”
On Wednesday, a coalition of legislators from the U.S. midwest also formally called on Canada and the U.S. to reopen the border for travellers who are fully vaccinated.
Trudeau, in response to a question about whether the government will make changes when the current restrictions expire on July 21, said, “We are going to be cautious and responsible and take things step by step.”
Trudeau said the government would be making announcements about reopening and next steps “in due course,” with the safety of Canadians as first priority.
“Reality is, we know how unbelievably costly and heartbreaking it would be to fall into a fourth wave of this pandemic. We are going to make sure that we don't do that,” Trudeau said.
He said it would also be “catastrophic” to have to “go back into lockdown as some countries are now looking at, with surges in the Delta variant, because we were overly eager to reopen by a few weeks.”
The representatives from the tourism industry in Montreal argued at their press conference that it's not fully vaccinated travellers who pose the risk of a fourth wave.
“This is not a cause for outbreaks,” Leblanc said. He argued what causes outbreaks is not having enough of the local population fully vaccinated, and that the Delta variant is already in the country.
“It's not coming with the doubly-vaccinated travellers,” Leblanc said.
Officials also argued many other countries have already opened up their borders to vaccinated tourists.
“Why is it the case that if you are Canadian with two Moderna shots, you are able to travel but if you are a French citizen with two Moderna shots or Pfizer shots, you cannot come to Canada? It doesn't make sense,” Leblanc said.
Yves Lalumière, president and CEO of Tourisme Montréal, said the industry can't “wait any longer.”