History will judge border inaction harshly

At the beginning of April, Canada earned the odious distinction of being one of the only countries in the world dealing with three variants of concern spreading unchecked at the same time, all because our Liberal government failed to learn one of the key lessons of the past year: border closures work.

At the time, we were becoming aware of the new “double mutant” variant found in India, which appeared to be fuelling the start of that country’s record-setting second wave. And yet, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government failed to halt flights from India and Pakistan until the strain was already spreading within our borders.

At the start of the pandemic, there was intense debate around the world about the efficacy of border closures. Australia banned travellers from China on Feb. 1, 2020, and quickly extended it to other countries that were being pummelled by the virus. The United States followed suit a few days later.

At the time, our government was still implying that banning travellers from China would be racist.

Health Minister Patty Hajdu accused the opposition of spreading “misinformation and fear” and sensationalizing “the risk to Canadians” for even inquiring about our border policy. As late as March 13, she was still insisting that travel bans were “highly ineffective and, in some cases, can create harm.” It wasn’t until March 20 that Canada actually closed its border to non-essential travel, but by then it was too late.

There is no longer any debate about the efficacy of such policies. Countries that implemented early travel bans — such as Taiwan, Vietnam, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand — have fared much better. A study published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health in July, for example, found that the travel bans implemented Down Under reduced the importation of COVID-19 cases by 79 per cent and delayed the outbreak in that country by a month.

Of course, at the beginning of 2020, we knew very little about the virus and the World Health Organization was advising against restrictions on international travel. The Canadian government could therefore be forgiven for making some mistakes. But over a year later, there are no longer any excuses.

There is a large body of evidence compiled throughout last year suggesting that early travel bans were effective, though their efficacy is reduced once the virus takes hold in a country. But the calculus changed once again when we started seeing more virulent variants spreading overseas.

At the end of December, we were, in effect, right back where we started: with the potential to stop, or at least delay, a new, more infectious variant from reaching our shores. Only this time we were armed with the knowledge that border controls could be used effectively in the fight against COVID-19 and that framing public health measures as racist was a stupid thing to do.

The Trudeau government did announce in January that it would start requiring incoming airline passengers to produce a negative COVID test before boarding flights — a fairly simple solution that shouldn’t have taken over 10 months to think up. It then announced that travellers would be required to take another test upon their arrival and isolate in an approved quarantine hotel until the results were available — a system that has worked well elsewhere.

The only problem was that by the time these policies were announced, the U.K. and South African variants were already circulating in Canada. Before the measures were implemented, Canada’s first case of the Brazil variant was identified.

At the start of April, it was clear that much of the country was in the midst of a third wave, fuelled by variants of concern, which accounted for around twothirds of all new infections. As of April 4, British Columbia had already detected 39 cases of the Indian variant, but it wasn’t until April 22 that the government announced a 30-day ban on flights from India and Pakistan.

In that time, well over 30 flights from India touched down on Canadian soil with infected passengers on board. And more people were testing positive after arriving from India than from anywhere else in the world.

Part of the problem has been that the Liberals have consistently taken half measures. For over a year, the government has maintained that the border is closed to “non-essential travel.” But in that time, 12 million people have entered the country. The truth is that anyone with a half-decent lawyer can get permission to bring in a foreign loved one, and Canadians face little resistance when vacationing abroad.

Australia and New Zealand have been using military and the police to enforce a mandatory 14-day stay in isolation hotels for people entering those countries. Canada’s three-day quarantine hotel stays can be bypassed by paying a fine that’s only slightly more than the cost of the room, or simply driving or taking a cab across the U.S. border.

Throughout this pandemic, Canada has been hobbled to some extent by its system of federalism, and it is certainly true that many provinces have done a poor job of controlling the spread of COVID-19. But border policy is firmly within the control of the federal government. It could have been used to prevent infected individuals from entering the country, thus reducing the strain on provincial testing, tracing and health systems. But in this, the government has failed us, and Canadians are dying as a result.

COUNTRIES THAT IMPLEMENTED EARLY TRAVEL BANS ... HAVE FARED MUCH BETTER.