Horgan stubbornly resists needed travel restrictions

B.C. stubbornly resistant to doing anything beyond urging people to stay at home

Premier John Horgan started the year by promising to clarify his position, once and for all, on restricting travel during the pandemic.

“Legal advice is what we've sought and we'll take a look at it over the next couple of days,” Horgan told reporters Jan. 10 on the eve of a two-day NDP caucus retreat.

“I want to put this either to rest so that BCers understand that we cannot do that, and we're not going to do that, or there is a way to do it and we're going to work with other provinces to achieve it.”

Ten days later, Horgan released a summary of the legal analysis on what the province could and could not do, under the Canadian Constitution, to restrict travel from other provinces.

“The review of our legal options made it clear we can't prevent people from travelling to B.C.,” the statement read in part. “Much of current interprovincial travel is work related and therefore cannot be restricted.”

Still, the legal opinion did identify one possible opening: “We can impose restrictions on people travelling for non-essential purposes if they are causing harm to the health and safety of British Columbians.”

But at that point no such opinion was forthcoming from Dr. Bonnie Henry or her team in public health.

“Public health officials tell us what is most important is for everyone to obey health orders, wherever they are, rather than imposing mobility rules,” said Horgan's statement. “Therefore, we will not be imposing travel restrictions at this time.”

But that could change: “If we see transmission increase due to interprovincial travel, we will impose stronger restrictions on non-essential travellers.”

Horgan was back on the topic in early February after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau indicated it was up to the provinces to implement their own border restrictions.

“We have staff working on various plans and protocols that we could put in place,” the B.C. premier confirmed to reporters Feb. 10. “We're looking at those plans, but we have no plan, at this point, to implement them.”

For emphasis, he said there were no plans to impose any restrictions in advance of the March spring break. Rather he would rely on powers of persuasion.

“I've talked to premiers across the country and I encourage them, as I encourage the prime minister, to tell people to stay where they are,” said Horgan. “That's what I'm asking British Columbians to do. If you don't have to travel, don't travel. That holds firm well through spring break.”

To the surprise of no one, except maybe the premier, many Canadians and many British Columbians ignored his plea.

Spring break brought a surge of travel from outside B.C. as well as within the province. Also — no surprise — there was a surge in COVID-19 cases and a surge in frustration among British Columbians who respected the guidelines and stayed close to home.

Horgan shared the frustration. “Absolutely outrageous,” he fumed when the CBC's Gregor Craigie asked in an April 7 interview about the out-of-towners who flooded into Tofino and other Island communities over spring break.

But the premier also insisted that the province was powerless to do anything about it. “Do we arrest them?” challenged Horgan.

“We urge them to go away,” he added, not noticing that for the purposes of this year's spring break, the barn door was already flapping in the wind.

Horgan voiced similar frustrations that same day about the outbreak that forced closure of the Whistler ski resort.

“Whistler was an epicentre for the variant and who was at Whistler? People from around Canada,” he said during an interview with Al Ferraby on CFAX radio. “We can be harsh, we can try and catch people's attention, but harsher restrictions are not going to affect those that are already disregarding the restrictions that are in place.”

Yet the province could do more to discourage holiday travel by making it inconvenient: Eliminating extra ferry sailings, restricting ferry reservations to essential travel, and passing the word in advance.

“We can restrict ferry traffic,” Horgan agreed in one of the interviews. “We've done that in the past, but not necessarily to good effect.” Good effect for whom? He did not say.

Then, this week, Horgan suggested that maybe travel restrictions were back on the agenda. He'd raised that possibility in a phone conversation Monday with his Alberta counterpart, Jason Kenney, on a range of bilateral issues.

“Among those, were the concerns we both share, mutually, about people that come back and forth between Alberta and B.C.,” Horgan told B.C. reporters Tuesday. “Whether it be essential travel or non-essential travel and the consequence that is having on case counts in our respective jurisdictions.”

“We haven't taken travel restrictions off the board, quite frankly,” the premier added. “It's about how practical they are and how we can enforce. … The cabinet meets tomorrow and all these issues will be on the table.”

The cabinet meeting came and went Wednesday without any announcements about travel restrictions. Then on Thursday came another discouraging pandemic briefing with Dr. Bonnie Henry.

“You should not be travelling now,” she said, identifying a major factor driving the case count. “Travel is what spreads the virus.”

There matters stood as of Thursday evening. There is still no indication that the premier intends to do any more than he's done so far to restrict travel — which is to say, nothing.