It’s time to say goodbye to the ArriveCan app, say border town mayors, tourism industry leaders and others complaining about Canada’s strict COVID-19 rules for international travelers are encouraging prospective US visitors to spend at home . Two Ontario mayors whose cities depend on cross-border tourism – Sarnia’s Mike Bradley and Niagara Falls Jim Diodati – urged the federal government on Wednesday to stop requiring travelers to navigate an ongoing process. which many find frustrating and confusing. “I learned a long time ago – I’ve been in politics for a long time: when you ride a dead horse, get off,” 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 in Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle south of Montreal, as well as proponents of duty-free shopkeepers, say the rules burden occasional cross-border visits. they say is vital to their local economies. Injury to the injury, they say, is the fact that there are no similar rules for travelers entering the US, especially now that Ottawa is removing the COVID-19 vaccination requirement for domestic and outbound international travel. Canadians and foreign visitors intending to enter Canada must continue to use the app or a portal to submit their vaccination details to the Canada Border Services in advance, a rule Diodati said has become obsolete. “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 telling us now that having these border restrictions (it no longer works for us). In the beginning, it was to keep the virus out – well, it’s clear here. . “ Richard Cannings, a New Democrat lawmaker whose southern driveway includes six separate Canada-US border crossings, said duty-free shops in those communities continue to see businesses that are 95 percent lower than before the pandemic. . “The NDP parliamentary group was strongly in favor of restrictions to keep Canadians safe on their travels and at work,” Cannings said. “But we have been asking for many months for a task force on a secure border, a border strategy that would bring together stakeholders to build a system that makes sense for all Canadians to keep us safe, but also to keep them safe. businesses “. There was no American voice from Wednesday’s press conference, a striking distinction from bilateral calls for easing restrictions that were annexed by the pandemic last year. This is because U.S. communities and businesses are benefiting from the imbalance, because it encourages American travelers to stay put and spend their money closer to home, Bradley said. “Americans, and I commend them, are great for their own good,” he said. Some U.S. lawmakers have taken full advantage of protests over the vaccine that led to cross-border trafficking and trade earlier this year, backing a boost in domestic production and supply chains, Bradley added. “They used it as a tool for economic development to keep industries in their country instead of coming here.” MP Brian Higgins, the New York MP who became one of the most ardent supporters of easing travel restrictions during the pandemic, appeared later Wednesday to express his solidarity with his Canadian cousins. “I stand with city leaders and tour operators calling for the termination of ArriveCan’s mandate,” Higgins said in a statement. Voters often call his office, “disappointed and confused” by the ongoing changes in border requirements, he said. “Therefore, to overcome the uncertainty and inconvenience it creates, many avoid traveling across the border altogether. We must return to the management of the US-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 particularly burdensome for its larger, less tech-savvy customers. Many of them “do not have a phone to do it – and even if they can do it on a computer, there is nothing simple about it, it serves no purpose,” Firestone said. You ask a lot of people to the point where they say, ‘You know what, it’s just not worth it.’ The government will “suspend” vaccination orders against COVID-19 for domestic and outgoing international travelers, as well as for workers under federal regulation, from Monday. Visiting foreign nationals should be vaccinated to avoid 14-day quarantine and extensive testing requirements. Transport Minister Omar Algabra acknowledged the continuing allegations, saying on Tuesday that the government was working on “efficiency” to make it less burdensome. However, it remains a valuable and essential public health tool, Alghabra said. Travel groups have blamed federal public health measures and orders for delays at airport customs that have contributed to long-awaited passenger delays and forced flight delays and cancellations. These delays will worsen now that the rules are changing for some travelers, but not for all, Firestone warned. “Airport flow will increase significantly on Monday,” he said, including among Canadian travelers who do not fully understand international rules. “Watch what happens at the airport when ArriveCan lands and is not completed properly.” This Canadian Press report was first published on June 15, 2022.
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