Maritime provinces travel ban is tough, but understandable
Premier Doug Ford didn’t even try to keep people from going to their cottages for the long weekend, despite the ban on non-essential travel. But some of his colleagues want to wall off eastern Canada from visitors all summer. I don’t blame them.
New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island were first to talk about banning all visitors and non-essential travel for summer 2020, except from each other, after both provinces had relatively few cases of COVID-19, and no deaths. Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador are also looking at maintaining a ban on non-residents for the summer, even those who own property.
This is shocking in Canada, where provincial boundaries are little more than a highway marker you might spot as you blow by at 120 km/h, but are most noticeable after the signs change from English to French to bilingual (in N.B.). It just feels wrong to have a police check involved in visiting another province, turning it into something like crossing into the United States (which at this rate may be permitted before we can visit the Atlantic Provinces).
There are many non-residents with vacation properties in Atlantic Canada, along with many expatriates who visit “home” every summer, and are welcomed with open arms by family, friends and local businesses. Not so much in the era of COVID-19.
This year’s challenges are beyond anything, except war, that we’ve dealt with in a century, and despite incredible technological and medical advancements, “wash your hands and stay home” is still the best available advice to contain the deadly coronavirus. Health officials warn of a second wave of infections as we ease restrictions.
So it’s no surprise that the region of the country most famous for its hospitality is taking in the welcome mat this summer, prompting an accusation that Atlantic
Canada’s leaders are having a “pandemic panic attack,” and violating mobility rights guaranteed in the Constitution.
Many people took to social media to say they’re disappointed but won’t visit their cabin in New Brunswick or family in P.E.I. this summer, while others insist they have vacations in Atlantic Canada booked, and paid for, and see no need to cancel their travel plans.
Who doesn’t want to get out of the city and do their best to self-isolate near a lake or the ocean? We’ve all got cabin fever from the lockdown and desperately want, and deserve, a change of scenery, but fears of local residents should not dismissed.
Quebec and Ontario are the hardest hit by the pandemic, especially in long term care homes, where outbreaks among residents and staff are so severe the military had to be called in to help some homes cope. They are also the closest geographically to the Atlantic Provinces, where some residents are justifiably afraid of a mass influx of visitors from central Canada potentially spreading COVID-19 in regions with a limited number of hospitals.
Closing borders is inconvenient and costly. Summer tourism is a huge part of the economy in Atlantic Canada, and no one tells visitors to stay away unless they feel it’s absolutely crucial.
Like thousands of Canadians, I haven’t been able to visit my mother in her nursing home in northern New Brunswick since the pandemic was declared, but I’ve been comforted by the fact there have been no COVID-19 cases in any LTC home in the province. I live in Ontario, so the decision by Premier Blaine Higgs to maintain a ban on nonresidents means I’ll have to wait until the fall to see her. If it helps keep her safe, it’s worth it, but it still hurts like hell.