A closed U.S. border remains Niagara’s safest option

With all due sympathy to the Fort Erie woman who has been separated from her fiancé in Kenmore, N.Y. since March, we hope the Canada-u.s. border doesn’t reopen any time soon.

As the crow flies, only about seven kilometres separate Tricia-lynn Pascia and Nick Crawley. The crow can fly over the border; fortunately, people cannot.

Until the United States gets its pandemic house in order, the border absolutely must stay closed, maybe even through the rest of 2020.

It’s too bad: Our tourism industry, our shops and restaurants and wineries, are reopening and in need of revenue to help them get back on their feet and put people back to work.

But at what cost?

More than half of the 50 states are still seeing their case counts grow; 11 of them have reported an increase of 50 per cent or more just over the previous week; and the U.S. now averages more new COVID-19 cases per day than at any time during the pandemic. The numbers show that rather than flattening the curve, the U.S. has lost control of it like a loose firehose.

Even if New York state finally is managing its curve, the reason it was hardest hit so early is that it, and especially New York City, are travel hubs for the rest of the country. People from all over pass through it.

Open our borders in Niagara and visitors from any state might come through.

Erie County, right across the border, is still seeing its daily case count rise, although the increase is slowing.

Niagara, like Ontario and the rest of Canada, made the tough choices early on and paid a stiff, stiff price to get to the point where we can slowly reopen.

Simply, too many Americans and too many American leaders, weren’t willing to make the same sacrifice.

Led by an irresponsible president, too many governors were too willing to relax lockdown rules. They reopened and enjoyed that moment of instant gratification; now many, like Florida, Texas and Arizona, have to convince people to lock down and try harder this time.

Putting the toothpaste back in the tube, as it were, is never easy. Especially in a country where a noisy minority looks at even something so simple as wearing a mask as an infringement on their rights.

Even the European Union is apparently considering banning visitors from the U.S., as it plans to reopen to tourism.

The United States has always had a streak of isolationism. Because of resistance at home it was late entering the First World War and only joined the Second World War after it was attacked.

Through his immigration policies, President Donald Trump has done his best to keep people from many parts of the world out of the U.S. He continually complains that other countries have treated the U.S. badly and taken advantage of it in the past.

With the borders closed, maybe he is getting what he wanted all along — America First, and America alone.

International travel restrictions and the fear of COVID-19 will keep more Canadians vacationing in Canada.

Since many are being paid by the federal government through temporary assistance, or their employers are receiving government wage subsidies, it’s good to see Canadian money staying in Canada.

In Niagara, that at least should make up for the loss of international visitors. It’s not perfect, and not viable in the long term.

But this year, a closed border and tourists visiting almost exclusively from Canada seems like the best recipe for what will pass for success in 2020.