Back and forth
A report by eight researchers released this week confirms what we here in Vermont already knew: The border closure with Canada has proven costly.
But the breadth and depth of the closure has impacted more than just the state’s economy. The researchers, including Saint Michael’s professor and Canadian politics expert Jeffrey Ayres, looked at the social and cultural implications of the border closing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Ayres was tasked with reporting on border regions covering eastern New York, Vermont and the Montreal, Québec, region, according to a news release.
The report — “The 2021 Border Barometer” — made several conclusions relative to our proximity to Canada. Ayres section of the 53-page report notes:
— Canadians, who represent more than 85% of all international visitors to Vermont, inject approximately $150 million annually into the state’s economy. That’s U.S. dollars — not Canadian dollars.
— With Québec being Vermont’s largest trading partner, in recent years, provincial and state officials have worked to deepen the economic relationship, hosting conferences, signing memoranda of understanding and joint cooperation agreements and, at times, successfully responding to challenges when relationships at the federal level between Canada and the United States have been less collaborative.
— While there was a 97% decrease on personal travel between eastern New York, Vermont and Montreal during the nearly 17-month border closure, there was only a 7% decline in truck traffic, since Canada and the U.S. agreed essential travel would continue.
There were strains other than COVID that also had implications.
Ayres wrote: “Certainly, it does seem that the weaker Canadian dollar of recent years as well as the more restrictive immigration policies of the Trump administration may have given some individuals in Canada second thoughts about the wisdom of crossing the border into the U.S. prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“But it is clear that the year-long border restrictions due to the virus have been deeply painful and disruptive for many families and small businesses in the borderlands north country, many of whom would have preferred a more regionally based or phased border closure and reopening approach by the Canadian and U.S. governments,” he wrote.
He states that with order restrictions lifted, “there needs to be greater federal and subnational attention to what is likely to be lasting damage to the economic well-being and social capital of these borderland communities.”
The news release points to the timing of the report, which seems to “coincide with Canada’s recent limited reopening of the border to vaccinated travelers from the U.S., emphasizing how vital a full border reopening will be economically, socially and culturally for both the U.S. and Canada.”
The report seems to reinforce that the United States-Canada partnership is an important and thriving one.
“Really it’s the relationships, families, border communities that were arguably affected most,” Ayres said in the news release.
For certain, state officials and leaders will study the report, which includes sections on the impact of the border closure on the ski industry, among others.
“The Vermont ski industry was really hammered by Canadians not being able to come over the border,” Ayres said, noting in particular the example of Jay Peak right at the border, with the sale of passes down 30% more than the time period covered by the study.
The study also identifies “Key Principles for a New Era of Border Management,” namely “(m)ove to more seamless and touchless processing to minimize contact between travelers and border officers while maximizing efficiency.”
Good neighbors make for sound, generous relationships that usually benefit both sides. Vermont is blessed to have such an integral partner to the north. Now, barring no steps backwards, the cross-border travel will validate — economically, socially and culturally — just how critical we are to each other.
— Rutland Herald, August 12