WASHINGTON –
It’s time to say goodbye to the ArriveCan app, say mayors of border cities, tourism industry leaders and others complaining about Canada’s strict COVID-19 standards for international travelers who encourage potential US visitors to spend your tourist dollars at home.
Two Ontario mayors whose cities depend on cross-border tourism – Mike Bradley of Sarnia and Jim Diodati of Niagara Falls – on Wednesday urged the federal government to stop requiring travelers to navigate a pre-authorization process that many find frustrating and confusing.
“I learned a long time ago, I’ve been in politics for a long time – when you’re riding a dead horse, dismount,” Bradley told a news conference in Ottawa.
“That’s what the federal government needs to do.”
Bradley, Diodati and Estelle Muzzi, mayor of the Quebec border community of Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle south of Montreal, as well as advocates of duty-free store operators, say the rules are a brake on accidental cross-border visits, which they say are vital to their local economies.
Adding insult to injury, they say, is the fact that there are no similar rules for travelers entering the U.S., especially now that Ottawa is lifting the COVID-19 vaccination requirement for outbound domestic and international travel.
Canadian and foreign visitors wishing to enter Canada must continue to use the online application or portal to submit their vaccination information to the Canada Border Services Agency in advance, a rule that Diodati has exceeded. its usefulness.
“We all supported the federal government with all the restrictions on the border; we stood shoulder to shoulder with them to make sure we were safe,” he said.
“But science is now telling us that having these restrictions on the border (is) no longer useful to us. In the beginning, it was to keep the virus out, well, it’s clearly here. It’s not doing what it was originally intended to do. “
Richard Cannings, a New Democrat MP, said traffic in southern BC includes six border crossings between Canada and the United States. before the pandemic.
“The NDP caucus, in particular, has been very supportive of restrictions to keep Canadians safe on the road and in their line of work,” Cannings said.
“But we have been calling for a secure border working group for many months, a secure border strategy that would bring together stakeholders to build a system that makes sense for all Canadians to stay safe, but also keep businesses running.”
There was an absence of U.S. voices at Wednesday’s press conference, a striking distinction of bilateral appeals to ease restrictions that became a component of the pandemic last year.
This is because American communities and tour operators benefit from the imbalance, because it encourages American travelers to stay and spend their money closer to home, Bradley said.
“Americans, and I give them credit, are great for their own self-interest,” he said.
Some U.S. lawmakers took full advantage of protests over the vaccine mandate that ruined cross-border traffic and trade southward earlier this year, arguing for increased manufacturing and domestic supply chains. add Bradley.
“They were using it as a tool for economic development to keep industries in their own country instead of coming here.”
MP Brian Higgins, the New York congressman who during the pandemic became one of the most vocal advocates of easing travel restrictions, came out Wednesday later to express solidarity with his Canadian cousins.
“I am with municipal leaders and travel agencies to demand an end to ArriveCan’s term,” Higgins said in a statement. Voters often say their office is “frustrated and confused” by the constant changes in requirements for crossing the border, he said.
“Consequently, to avoid the uncertainty and inconvenience it creates, many avoid traveling across the border completely. We need to get back to the management of the U.S.-Canada border before the pandemic.”
Martin Firestone, a Toronto-based travel insurance broker who specializes in helping retirees spend the winter months in warmer climates like Florida, said ArriveCan’s requirements are especially onerous for its customers. big and less tech savvy.
Many of them “don’t have a phone to do it, and even if they can do it with a computer, nothing is easy; it’s useless,” Firestone said.
“You’re asking too many people to the point where they’ll say, ‘You know what, it’s just not worth it.’
The government will “suspend” vaccination mandates against COVID-19 for outbound domestic and international travelers, as well as for federally regulated workers, beginning Monday. Visiting foreigners should be vaccinated to avoid a 14-day quarantine and extensive testing requirements.
Transport Minister Omar Alghabra acknowledged the ongoing complaints, saying on Tuesday that the government was working on “efficiencies” to make it less onerous. But it remains a valuable and necessary public health tool, Alghabra said.
Travel industry groups have blamed federal public health measures and mandates for the slowdown in airport customs that have contributed to long waits for passengers and forced flight delays and cancellations.
These delays will only get worse now that rules are changing for some travelers, but not all, Firestone warned.
“The flow of the airport will increase significantly on Monday,” he said, including among Canadian travelers who do not fully understand international rules. “Look at what happens at the airport when they land and don’t have their ArriveCan completed properly.”
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on June 15, 2022.
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