U.S. BORDER SHUT UNTIL AUG. 21
Some Sask. businesses are struggling
On a normal weekend, Noonan Mayor Doug Clemens wouldn't think twice about crossing the Canadian border to play golf, see in-laws or attend a backyard barbecue.
But he hasn't been north since the pandemic began, and has little hope lawmakers on either side of the border will return things to normal anytime soon.
“It seems like we're almost in East and West Berlin,” Clemens said.
Canadian officials announced this week that fully vaccinated Americans can enter Canada starting Aug. 9 without a need to quarantine, provided they can show proof of a recent negative COVID-19 test. However, the United States has signalled it won't allow Canadian travellers across until at least Aug. 21.
Officials on both sides have cited fears about the extra-contagious Delta variant, which threatens to upend reopening plans as vaccination campaigns stall.
In the meantime communities like Noonan, where friendships and economies straddle the 49th parallel, are feeling the continued frustration of shutdown.
Gene Davis said his duty free shop in North Portal, Sask., has been losing money since the border closed. He laments that chocolates ordered in February 2020 are still on the shelves, forcing him to clear them out with a three-forone deal. The loosening of restrictions from Canada's side is too little, too late, he said.
“The season will be done before they're opening the border.”
The border also runs through North Portal's golf course. Mayor Kaylah Turner said Americans who usually staff it can't work this year.
The course's ninth hole, on the U.S. side, is monitored by a video camera — a sign of how a seamless relationship has shifted. She said she is personally ready for the border to open, hoping she can see missed friends.
“We've got a lot of families who haven't been able to see each other since,” Turner said.
She acknowledged not everyone is as supportive of opening the border right away, but local governments on each side have panned the pace of reopening.
Saskatchewan Health Minister Paul Merriman and Minister Responsible for Tourism Saskatchewan Jeremy Harrison wrote to federal counterparts in June, asking for the province to be allowed to “pilot” a border reopening to North Dakota and Montana for fully vaccinated residents on either side. Executive council director of communications Julie Leggott said Saskatchewan never received a response.
The Starphoenix contacted four federal spokespeople between Monday and Wednesday, none of whom offered a response to the province's proposal.
Governor Doug Burgum of North Dakota issued a statement on Wednesday declaring the Americans' restrictions “have now crossed the line from precautionary to preposterous.”
Harrison also took issue with the regulations for air travel.
Only four Canadian airports can welcome or host international flights.
On Aug. 9, that number will grow to nine, not including either Saskatoon or Regina.
A federal official said airport selection was based on public health advice, passenger volumes and whether the ports could act as a “release valve” for an expected uptick in traffic. Consideration will be given to more airports based on demand, the virus and advice from public health and border officials.
Clemens said the closed border hasn't stopped people with money from crossing.
He knows one person in southern Saskatchewan who flew to Vancouver and routed through other U.S. airports just to get to North Dakota, a short drive from where they live.
The prospect of paying for COVID-19 tests for his whole family, at US$110 per person, is a tough sell for something he used to do freely, Clemens said.
“I think a lot of it is they take it as a one-size-fits-all approach, and it doesn't fit.”