![]() ![]() It's anybody's guess when the border might reopen for discretionary trips. and Canada closed their shared border to nonessential crossings due to the pandemic. In Canada, vaccine supplies are more limited and the best case scenario is to get all adults at least one shot by midsummer.This coming Sunday, March 21, will mark one year since the U.S. President Joe Biden vowed recently that there would be enough COVID vaccines for all American adults to get a shot by the end of May. The vaccination rollout has gone slower in Canada than in the U.S. But in a recent reversal, the 7-day average of new cases currently shows a higher infection rate per capita in B.C., where cases are rising, than in Washington where cases are falling. Last fall, the Canadian government loosened up a little bit by making some reunifications of people in long term relationships possible, but the winter surge of the virus soon prompted new quarantine and testing rules to further deter cross-border trips.Īccording to the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 dashboard, the cumulative case incidence rate per 100,000 people in Washington state since the beginning of the pandemic is hovering between double and triple the rate in British Columbia. Truck drivers and "essential" workers in fields like health care and energy are permitted to cross the border in both directions as normal as long as they have no symptoms.ĭuring the pandemic, unmarried couples separated by travel restrictions formed an online movement dubbed " Love Is Not Tourism." Its members - 46,000 strong in a private Facebook group - continue to press for relaxation of the U.S.-Canada border crossing rules and other countries' travel bans. That'll be eventually, but not for today." "But I think we're all going to wait patiently until such time as the health situation allows us to loosen border restrictions internationally. ![]() "We’re all eager to be able to travel again," Trudeau said Monday during a news conference in Montreal. Neither government has provided the metrics they're using to judge when it's safe to ease up.Ĭanadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there are ongoing discussions with the American administration about the border restrictions, but gave no indication a relaxation is coming anytime soon. State Department have been extending the northern border closure month-to-month. ![]() "I've had people drive from Montana, Texas, Arizona," Blank said. Washington State Park Ranger Rick Blank said if people follow the rules by keeping their distance from other visitors and keeping gatherings small, the state park can stay open safely.ĭuring an interview amid the convivial, scattered throng, Blank noted that people converge on this place from throughout Canada and the United States. "Residents shouldn't be afraid to walk out their front door because others are exploiting a loophole." "At a time when possible COVID-19 variants could spread rapidly, it is critical that your government take swift action and do everything in its power to ensure safety in our communities," wrote British Columbia Legislative Assembly members Trevor Halford and Stephanie Cadieux in a letter. Canada shut down its half of the park last summer because of the crowds and coronavirus transmission concerns. It's been well over a year now."īritish Columbia legislators who represent the border towns of Surrey and White Rock actually want Washington state to close its side of Peace Arch park until nonessential cross-border travel is deemed safe again. ![]() It's been a long time since we've been together as a family. "It means a lot to us just to get together. "First time I've seen that little girl in our life," said Wilson, beaming from cheek to check. Three generations of the Wilson family came prepared for a full day in the border park on Saturday, bringing with them a portable fire pit, camping chairs, blankets, a picnic and story books.įamily patriarch Jack Wilson of Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, said his descendants live on both sides of the border, including a new baby granddaughter from Chehalis, Washington. At eye level below is the phrase, "May these gates never close." "Children of a common mother," it reads up high on the arch under the two countries' flags. Last weekend, well more than a thousand people of all ages and races, speaking a Babel of languages, spread out across the manicured lawns on the American side of the cross-border park.įew showed interest in the park's namesake 100-year-old gleaming white arch whose inscription rings a bit hollow now. Before the pandemic, it would be typical in late winter to encounter around 50 people visiting the state park and adjoining provincial park on a weekend afternoon. ![]()
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