The U.S.-Canadian border is still closed, leading to a lot of frustration by cruising people in both countries, including many who want to enjoy some of the most beautiful parts of the Great Loop on the Canadian side. On the west coast, cruising boat owners also want to go above the San Juans, or just over to Victoria, and are waiting for word that the border will reopen. The problem is, nobody seems to have a grip on when that will happen. Here’s a new story from the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) that says there actually is no plan right now:
The one-year anniversary of the quasi-shutdown of the Canada-U.S. border will come and go next week, with no end in sight to disruptions that have affected lives, businesses, and communities touching the world’s so-called longest undefended frontier.
Once again, the tightening will be extended on March 21 for another month as it has every month since the pandemic crashed onto this continent last year.
Once again, the people most affected will wonder what the plan is for reopening and what sorts of public-health stats would allow regular travel to resume.
The truth is: There is no plan.
Conversations with officials in both countries in recent days revealed that, even as vaccinations ramp up, neither government has defined what it will take to reopen the border.
They say there’s no secret document laying out such benchmarks — such as, for example, the number of vaccine doses required for a return to normal, or the number of coronavirus cases reported.
The official line remains that it’s still too soon to talk about reopening because the virus remains a serious threat. There are still too few vaccinated people; case levels are still concerning; virus variants pose unknown perils.
I can see the light at the end of the tunnel,” said one Canadian official, who asked to remain anonymous.
“In the near term, however, people should expect the border measures [to continue].”
What that means is an extension of the spotty new status quo for cross-border travel — which has dropped about 90 per cent, though freer movement is allowed for certain workers, and certain humanitarian reasons, and certain modes of transport.
But there’s a push for greater long-term clarity. In the terminology of the financial world, what some are asking for is forward guidance to help people plan.
Among those demanding details are two dozen members of the U.S. Congress from border states. They wrote to U.S. President Joe Biden requesting a plan for reopening the border, in gradual phases, tied to public-health metrics. Read more:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/canada-border-restriction-reopening-1.5948695
