Talks to reopen U.S.-Canada border lack ‘sense of urgency’ on either side, official says
One of the members on the bi-national task force set up to examine what it will take to end the closure of the U.S.-Canadian border to non-essential travel due to COVID-19 said that he did not feel a “sense of urgency” from either side to reopen.
“I’m going to be honest with you. In the discussions we’ve had, we did not feel that there was a sense of urgency, either on the American or on the Canadian side, to address this issue,” Former Quebec Premier Jean Charest said in a webinar Wednesday, April 28, according to a story by the Adirondack Daily Enterprise. “We did not get that sense, that feeling that this was something that they have to deal with right now.
“Our challenge in the short term is to move them to that level where they are actually committed to delivering a plan.”
Charest is part of the Wilson Task Force on Public Health set up late last year to develop recommendations for the border’s eventual reopening. Former Washington state governor Christine Gregoire is also a member of the task force.
The group was originally supposed to release recommendations on how to reopen the border in March, but has not yet done so, according to the Daily Enterprise story. Though he gave no timeline on when those recommendations would be released, Charest said that plan was coming.
“Essentially, what I can report is what you already know: Both governments are very determined to, first of all, fight COVID in our respective jurisdictions,” Charest said, according to the Daily Enterprise.
The U.S. and Canada first agreed to close the border in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19 during the opening stages of the pandemic in mid-March 2020. The closure that began March 21 has since been extended on month-by-month basis 13 times now.
It was last extended April 20 for a 14th month and is currently set to expire May 21.
In his own opinion, Charest said that the border would not reopen until certain vaccination levels were met — though he said that did not mean herd immunity levels.
“The key is vaccination,” Charest said repeatedly during the webinar, according to the Daily Enterprise.
Sharing vaccine?
A day after a Whatcom County fire chief in Point Roberts offered to share his community’s excess vaccine supply with Canadian citizens, British Columbia officials said cross-border conversations are underway.
On Wednesday, April 28, Whatcom County Fire District 5 chief Christopher Carleton sent a letter to British Columbia Premier John Horgan, extending an offer to discuss an international cooperation to help vaccinate Canadian citizens utilizing American excess doses.
“Point Roberts is in a position, unlike many others, to offer this controlled extension of assistance due to our geographical isolation and secured border passages,” Carleton wrote in a copy of the letter emailed to The Bellingham Herald. “As you know, Point Roberts does not provide open access to the rest of our country, but would allow more direct vaccination ability for our northern neighbors, while also supporting our local economy.
“As a nation, other sites could potentially be chosen along our shared border that would offer the same security. The United States has led the world in producing effective vaccines. Our nation’s issue now is beginning to shift toward having more vaccine available than we have candidates seeking to receive it. Our British Columbia neighbors in particular, are facing surges and emerging variants, problems which are greatly compounded by vaccine shortage.”
Carleton went on to write that nearly 70% of Point Roberts current residents have been vaccinated and suggested an agreement between the two countries could be formed to allow British Columbia citizens to be vaccinated at designated areas along the border.
“Point Roberts Fire is able, willing and anxious to be of service to our northern friends,” Carleton wrote. “Our organization’s patch displays the flags of both nations with the motto: Together in Unity. Help us forge a path for the citizens of both our countries through the highest levels of cooperation, benefiting the health and safety of thousands.”
Whatcom County providers have already begun to request fewer vaccine doses as demand to be vaccinated has begun to wane.
British Columbia’s top doctor, Dr. Bonnie Henry, said Thursday that cross-border talks are already underway, according to a CTV News story.
Her first priority, according to the story, was to set up a plan that would allow Canadian truckers to possibly get vaccinated south of the border. The B.C. Trucking Association has backed a plan similar to what Henry is suggesting, according to a CBC story.
Saskatchewan and Manitoba have already set up similar plans to the one Henry is seeking, allowing truckers and other essential workers to cross the border and be vaccinated, CTV reported.
Other Canadians are finding other ways to cross the border to get vaccinated, according to a Daily Hive story, such as Canadian students who attend U.S. colleges and Canadian citizens that own property in the U.S.
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy also has already allowed a similar vaccination share to what Carleton suggested in one small border town, according to a CBC story. Dunleavy offered vaccine to residents in the small town of Stewart, B.C., which sits along the border just east of Hyder, Alaska, in the hopes the Canadian government will ease restrictions between the two cities that depend so much on each other.
Vaccine disparity
Part of the reason so many Canadians are hopeful they can get vaccinated in the U.S. is their country’s vaccination efforts have lagged beyond that of the Americans.
According to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center’s vaccine tracker on Friday, April 30, Canada has administered more than 13 million vaccine doses, but only 2.9% of its population (1,082,053 residents) is fully vaccinated.
For comparison, the United States has administered more than 240 million doses and has 28.4% of its population (93,246,340 residents) fully vaccinated.
The U.S. ranks No. 10 in the world for percentage of population fully vaccinated, while Canada is No. 69.
Checkpoint closures
Due to the continued shutdown of the border, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced that it is temporarily closing some of its smaller, more rural checkpoints along the border because very few people are using them.
Checkpoints in Montana and Vermont have already gotten word that they will be shuttered until the border opens, and most recently one in Monticello, Maine, was closed, according to a story by the Caledonian Record.
None of Whatcom County’s five border crossings are expected to be similarly impacted.
“At this time, there are no plans to make any changes of current operational hours or to close any of the Ports of Entry within the Blaine Area of Operation,” CBP spokesperson Jamie Ruiz told The Bellingham Herald in an email.
Help for Point Roberts?
Washington state’s U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, along with colleagues from Minnesota, on Thursday introduced legislation seeking relief for residents of Point Robert and in the Northwest Angle in Minnesota who have been cut off from the rest of the U.S. by the border closure.
Like Point Roberts, residents in the Northwest Angle are geographically separated from the rest of the U.S. Under usual circumstances, they would need to make two border crossings and travel through Canada to reach the mainland, but that is not possible for travel deemed non-essential with the border closing.
“Small business owners continue to face serious challenges as a result of the U.S./Canada border closure, including in my home state of Washington,” Murray. “This has a direct impact on tourism and the economies of these communities. This legislation will help provide the economic support needed to help these small businesses keep their lights on and their employees on payroll.”
Under the bill, forgivable loans would be available to businesses in the communities for up to 75% of last year’s revenue if revenue during the second quarter of 2020 dropped by at least one-half, according to the release.
COVID numbers update
As of Friday, the United States continues to have the highest number of COVID cases in the world with more than 32.3 million confirmed cases and 575,000 related deaths, according to the John Hopkins University COVID-19 dashboard. Canada, meanwhile, was 22nd overall with more than 1.2 million cases and 24,000 related deaths.
The U.S. is the third-most populated country in the world with more than 331 million residents, according to worldometers.info, while Canada is No. 39 with more than 37 million residents.
According to the British Columbia COVID-19 dashboard on Thursday, April 29, the province has seen 128,742 total cases during the pandemic and 1,577 confirmed deaths — an increase of 8,702 cases and 39 deaths since the last border extension was announced April 20. With a population of approximately 5.1 million, British Columbia has seen an infection rate of 170.6 cases and 0.8 deaths per 100,000 residents since April 20.
The Washington State Department of Health, meanwhile, reported 372,262 confirmed cases and 5,487 related deaths on Thursday — an increase of 12,452 cases and 93 deaths since April 20. With a population of approximately 7.5 million, the state has averaged 166.0 cases and 1.2 deaths per 100,000 residents since April 20.
Washington state reports administering 5,248,061 vaccine doses, or approximately 0.70 doses per resident, while British Columbia reports administering 1,749,375 doses, or approximately 0.34 per resident.
This story was originally published May 1, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
