Niagara’s input into reopening of border crucial

Are we close to seeing the Canada-U.S. border reopen?

Let’s hope not. Regardless of what is happening in the United States regarding its efforts to control COVID-19, we still need to get our own house in order.

We roll our eyes at images that emerged from the U.S this past weekend showing resorts with pools full of partiers, jam-packed restaurants and beaches where bathers were not socially distancing. And then we see what happens here in Ontario — the scene at the park in Toronto, filled with people picnicking or just enjoying the sun. And crowds still gather to look at Niagara Falls and at other places across the region. So opening the border now, or maybe even a month from now, looks like a bad idea.

The COVID curve is still too unstable to introduce a whole new population into this province. The good news is, both countries have started working together to find a practical, safe way to reopen it at some later point. We’re relieved, too, to know that a group of stakeholders from Niagara is part of the discussion.

“When we look at our regional economy and how intertwined we are, there are sometimes very different things to be talking about than what’s happening at the 30,000-foot level,” said Craig Turner, president of World Trade Center Buffalo Niagara which met recently with the Niagara delegation.

In Niagara, people live on one side and work on the other, own cottages across the border, and have families on both sides of the Niagara River. In some parts of the region, the most urgent medical cases are still transported to trauma centres in Buffalo.

Our region has the unique characteristic of being a world-class tourism destination situated right on the international border.

The border Ontario and Quebec share with New York state runs more than 700 kilometres — few crossings are as busy as those in Niagara, though. That makes one of the local group’s recommendations especially key: That any agreement to reopen should include regional provisions, rather than a one-size-fits-all rule book governing all of North America.

Locally, then, a good first step would be for the Trump administration to drop its ban on New York residents applying or reapplying for the Nexus trusted traveller program. It was imposed back in February.

At the time, the Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce and South Niagara Chambers of Commerce joined the Hamilton chamber and agencies in New York to protest the move. Nexus kept low-risk passenger vehicle traffic moving across the border.

Meanwhile, an estimated 40 per cent of Canadian trucks used FAST, a commercial clearance program for low-risk shipments crossing the border that was put under the same restrictions by Homeland Security.

Whatever their concerns, clearly things have changed since the ban was imposed. When the border reopens, it’s imperative that whatever traffic comes across moves efficiently.

Meanwhile, Canada can’t let itself be pushed into reopening the border prematurely to satisfy an erratic U.S. president in an election year.

From his handling of the COVID-19 crisis, President Trump clearly believes returning to normal as quickly as possible will improve his chances of being reelected. But we’re not at normal yet; whatever that even is, we’re not there yet.

The border reopening, when it happens, must take into account the needs of communities on both sides. And that means doing it in a measured, planned way that works for both Canada and the U.S.