B.C. mulls closing points of entry

COVID MEASURE

British Columbia is the latest province to consider a ban on interprovincial travel to prevent the spread of COVID-19, with Premier John Horgan saying this week the government is seeking legal advice on whether or not such a policy would be possible.

“I want to put this either to rest, so that British Columbians understand that we cannot do that, and we're not going to do that, or there is a way to do it and we're going to work with other provinces to achieve it,” Horgan said Thursday.

At present, British Columbia has asked residents to avoid non-essential travel. But for weeks now, concern has been building in several tourist hot spots along the B.C.-Alberta border, such as Revelstoke, that out-of-province visitors — mainly from Alberta — are flooding ski resorts and backcountry jumping-off points.

Cody Younger, a councillor in Revelstoke, wrote on his Facebook page recently that “it's becoming increasingly frustrating for many in our community including myself who see the double standards.”

“The majority of people in Revelstoke have been wearing masks, social distancing, sticking to their bubbles and not travelling outside of the community (for non essential reasons). Yet we continue to see people flocking to Revelstoke to come and have a winter vacation,” he wrote, arguing for a mandatory provincial quarantine.

Alberta has recently loosened restrictions, and has confirmed at least five cases of the highly contagious U.K. variant and two cases of the South Africa variant. B.C. has also confirmed cases of the South Africa variant of the COVID-19 virus.

Unlike other parts of Canada that have some sort of travel restrictions, British Columbia's a tricky one because there are multiple points of entry. There are at least a half-dozen roads between B.C. and Alberta, and at least seven between northern British Columbia and the Yukon.

A number of other provinces and territories have border restrictions, and most have guidelines for visitors, some with significant penalties for violating the rules.

Nunavut and the Northwest Territories both have had travel bans in place for months. The Northwest Territories has, realistically, only one entry point, from northern Alberta, and there are no roads into Nunavut from anywhere in the country. While the Yukon doesn't have a ban, it does have self-isolation requirements upon arrival.

The “Atlantic Bubble” has sealed off New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador from the rest of Canada. This bubble has been simple to enforce because the highways into the region are limited. New Brunswick has been able to establish roadblocks to screen anyone trying to enter.