Group to discuss safest way to reopen border

If we can see a serious and practical plan by March we can hopefully see increased cross border travel once again for spring.”

— Garry Douglas, North Country Plattsburgh Chamber of Commerce president

The task force that will recommend how and when to reopen the U.s.-canadian border will look at ways to include health screenings in its current inspection process.

Christopher Mcdonald, director of the Wilson Center’s Canada Institute, which appointed the task force, said the political challenge, meanwhile, will be this: “(H)ow can the United States and Canada restore public confidence in the shared border so that they will resume cross border activities and be reassured that pandemic risks are being managed cooperatively and safely by both countries?”

The formation of the fourperson task force, announced last month, was welcomed by North Country officials who have pushed for a plan to reopen the border, which has been closed to nonessential travel since last March, as the COVID -19 pandemic began spreading.

“This is very much the sort of serious binational planning discussion we have been seeking,” said Garry Douglas, president of the North Country Chamber of Commerce in Plattsburgh.

Douglas said that while the task force has no official government power to enact its findings, “it provides a credible platform for discussion and recommendations that will surely be taken very seriously in both Washington and Ottawa.”

Task force members include former Quebec Premier Jean Charest, leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada; former Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire, a Democrat who is the CEO for Challenge Seattle and co-chair of the steering committee that guides the Cascadia Innovation Corridor initiative; former Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Anne Mclellan, who was appointed by Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin as Canada’s first-ever Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness; and former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, a Republican who entered politics following a career as a technology chief executive and venture capitalist.

“The task force will issue recommendations to the two governments in March,” said Douglas. “While this seems a long ways off, it is consistent with private indications that little will change with the restrictions before April.

“If we can see a serious and practical plan by March,” he added, “we can hopefully see increased cross border travel once again for spring.”