Navigating the border labyrinth
With COVID numbers south of the border rising, being shut out may be a good thing
The United States should unilaterally open the border to vaccinated Canadians, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer declared July 6.
“If Canada doesn't want Americans to come there, that's their business,” he said. “We hope they will stop that and we're pushing to get them to change. But we can on our own say we welcome Canadian citizens here.”
Two weeks later, Canada announced it will open the border, unilaterally.
Here's a border primer, because it's confusing. Canada will allow non-essential travellers from the U.S. to enter this country by land starting Aug. 9, if they're fully vaccinated and tested negative for COVID-19 before entry. They'll be exempt from testing and quarantine here, unless they're randomly selected for testing and quarantine here.
But there still isn't a clear definition of essential manufacturing workers here who cross the border frequently but don't have a regular schedule. Re-entering Canada can be dicey. The Canada Border Services Agency has a lot of discretion, which causes “tremendous anxiety,” said Jeanine Lassaline-berglund, president of the Canadian Association of Moldmakers and Automate Canada.
Then there's air travel. Airports in four cities in Canada — Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Calgary — can accept international flights now. Airports in five more cities — Ottawa, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Quebec City and Halifax — can starting Aug. 9. That will expand, hopefully to include Windsor, Sept. 7.
The U.S. will continue denying entry to non-essential travellers from Canada at its land borders until at least Aug. 21. But you can fly to the U.S. All you need is a negative COVID-19 test. Oh, and you have to be able to afford a ticket. So you can't cross in a car by yourself, but if you can afford it, you can cross in a packed plane.
Adding to the confusion, 8,500 unionized CBSA staff voted to strike as early as Aug. 6 — three days before Canada opens its border to the U.S. Many positions are considered essential, so those employees can't strike. Still, 2,600 can walk off the job, and the rest can refuse some duties.
When the union announced the strike vote, negotiations hurriedly resumed Thursday.
It's so muddled that the Canada-u.s. Inter-parliamentary Group, comprised of MPS and senators from all parties, asked for a government briefing.
“There was just general confusion,” said Windsor West MP Brian Masse, who has called for a safe border task force to better plan reopening and navigate emerging issues like the Delta variant.
The announcement closing the border to non-essential travel in March 2020 to contain the spread of COVID-19, and the umpteen announcements since then extending the closure, have all been done jointly.
Then, for months, politicians in the U.S. pressured Canada to reopen its border. It finally did. The U.S. didn't reciprocate. And there's no commitment regarding when it will. There are no targets or protocols for when it will, either. Will it accept Canadians who received the Astrazeneca vaccine?
So, starting Aug. 9, Americans can come here, but we can't go there.
Yet, “our respective nations' social and business fabric are inextricably intertwined,” as the joint statement Monday from the Windsor-essex Regional Chamber of Commerce, Detroit Regional Chamber and Canada-u.s. Business Association said, urging the U.S. to also reopen the border. Canada also needs access to the U.S.
The thing is, Canada can afford
to begin cautiously reopening the border. Cases here are low, though rising. Vaccination is high, though not high enough. And, of course, the federal government was under a lot of pressure from businesses, separated families and border cities to reopen crossings, and an election is expected.
It's entirely different in the U.S., where the Delta variant is surging and vaccination is low. Fully vaccinated Canadians would be the least of that country's worries, especially since we can already fly there. But the U.S., too keen to reopen early, can't even think about it now. It's busy fighting another wave, trying to reimpose restrictions, not lift them.
That's probably fine for many Canadians, too.
New infections in Michigan have jumped almost 50 per cent in the last week. Only 63 per cent of people have received their first dose of vaccine. Only 55 per cent are fully vaccinated.
And Michigan is better than most states.
Michigan also rescinded most of its public health restrictions last month.
So while Canada's border reopening is appropriately cautious and offers businesses and separated families some hope, some Canadians might not feel comfortable going to the U.S. now, anyway.
Some of those fully vaccinated essential manufacturing workers here who are sent to the U.S. to service contracts could even become jittery about working in places where the virus is rampant and vaccination is low, said Lassaline-berglund.
“Employers in Canada may need to consider reasonable work refusals,” she said.