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Anticipation Builds for US-Canada Border to Reopen

Craig McCulloch

   VANCOUVER, CANADA - A formal announcement on the reopening of the
   8,891-kilometer U.S.-Canada border could come any day. The border has
   been closed to all nonessential travel since March 2020 because of the
   coronavirus pandemic.

   The closure of the world's longest undefended boundary has been renewed
   every month since, with current restrictions expiring Monday.

   According to the U.S. State Department, before the pandemic, an average
   of 400,000 people crossed the border daily. About $2 billion a day in
   trade made the same journey.

   The government of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has signaled
   the reopening will be gradual and subject to restrictions.

   Kelley Lee, professor of global health at Simon Fraser University in
   Vancouver, expects that people traveling for nonessential purposes will
   be put into four categories.

   "What it will look like is that we'll go towards a system where people
   are put into categories based on their immunization status," Lee said.
   "So, there would be fully vaccinated, partially vaccinated, non- or
   unvaccinated, and then people who have been previously infected, so
   they'll have some immunity through that natural infection."
   FILE -:Travelers arriving from the United States enter a tent erected
   to perform the coronavirus molecular test at one of five initial entry
   points, at the Champlain-St. Bernard de Lacolle Border Crossing in
   Quebec, Canada, Feb. 24, 2021.

   Lee says the best way to easily determine a traveler's category would
   be through a vaccine passport, which some see as cumbersome or
   otherwise objectionable.

   "And I think that they probably are the right way to go, if they are
   implemented properly and implemented in a way that is tied to risk
   analysis. So, you know, if we know that fully vaccinated people do not
   pose a risk, but we know how to manage that risk and to lower risks,
   not a zero risk, then we can use those passports," she said.

   Goldy Hyder, president and chief executive of the Business Council of
   Canada, says as more people become vaccinated, pressure builds on the
   government to allow more travel.

   "So there's a pivot taking place here psychologically in the minds of
   Canadians," he said. "And I think they've moved from fear to hope. And
   they want to know what the benefits of being fully vaccinated are. So
   the government's first reaction, I think, will be timid. But I do
   believe that they're going to move very quickly ... because I think
   they're going to realize they're falling behind where the public mood
   is on this issue."

   Hyder does not like the term "vaccine passport" because it has
   different connotations and would not be like a traditional travel
   document. He also feels that anything being implemented should not
   discriminate against those for whom getting vaccinated poses health
   risks.

   "So I think we have to be careful that we don't even punish those who
   for good science reasons, health reasons, may not be able to be
   vaccinated, and there are people who fall in that category. So, you
   can't deny them the right of mobility," he said.

   One industry that has long depended on traditional passports is
   tourism, one of the hardest hit during the pandemic.

   Walt Judas, CEO of the Tourism Industry Association of British
   Columbia, says any type of definitive reopening of the border is
   welcome, even if done gradually.

   "This month-to-month carryover has been really detrimental. And so many
   businesses have either failed or are on life support because of it,"
   Judas said. "They can't plan, they have to cancel their guests, they
   have to offer refunds. And really they rely almost exclusively on
   international visitation. So not having a plan has really hurt the
   industry over the long run."

   As of June 11, the Canadian government saidjust over 70 percent of
   adults hadgotten at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, and a little
   more than 9percent were fully vaccinated.

   The U.S.-Canada border has 117 legal crossing points.

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