Canadian officials do not want to open borders as COVID-19 continues to run across the country. … [+]
For the fourth time, Canada and the United States are expected to extend the non-essential travel ban, two Canadian officials told Reuters. This would delay the earliest possible reopening until the end of August.
No one who reads tea leaves from the United States and Canada can be surprised. Earlier this month, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada had handled the outbreak better than the United States, in a rare public reprimand.
Canada apparently has no appetite to open the door to a country where COVID-19 rates are increasing in four of the five states. In a recent poll, nine out of 10 Quebec and Ontario residents said they did not want the Canada-United States border to be reopened in July.
The prime ministers of the Canadian provinces, the equivalent of the US state governors, have also made it clear that they want the border to remain closed.
Last week, John Horgan, the Prime Minister of British Columbia, said in an interview: “We want to keep those borders closed at this time. He is overwhelmingly supported by British Colombians.”
Doug Ford, Prime Minister of Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, said today that the situation in Florida was “astonishing” and “terrifying.”
Last week, the medical director of the Pacific province of British Columbia said there was no chance of nonessential travel with the United States this summer, given the spread of the virus south of the border.
The original border closure was established on March 20 for 30 days and then extended into April, May, and June. Trade crossings for trade and commerce have continued throughout the pandemic.
With only a week to go before the border closure deal expires, Trudeau told Canadian journalists today that border talks with the United States are “ongoing,” following a call with President Trump this morning.
Last week, members of the US Congress wrote an open letter to Canada’s Minister of Public Security, Bill Blair, calling for a gradual reopening of the Canada-US border. “Decisions on the border of Canada is taken by Canadians, for Canadians, “Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said in a statement.
Canada has reduced its coronavirus infection rate to just three new cases daily per 100,000 people, according to the Harvard Global Health Institute risk assessment map.
In comparison, the infection rate in the United States is 18 new cases daily per 100,000, six times higher than that of our northern neighbor, with hot spots in Arizona, Florida, Texas, South Carolina, and a dozen others. state. That puts the United States on a par with Brazil and South Africa in terms of how poorly the disease has been managed.
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