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VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — The Canadian government’s announcement it is dropping the requirement for vaccinated travelers to show a negative COVID-19 test result to enter the country was greeted with relief by tourism and business groups on both sides of the border Thursday.
Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said tests will no longer be needed beginning April 1.
Currently, fully vaccinated travelers entering Canada must present proof of a negative result from a professionally administered antigen test. The antigen test replaced the more costly and time-consuming molecular test in February.
Guy Occhiogrosso, president and chief executive officer of the Bellingham Regional Chamber of Commerce in Washington state near the border with British Columbia, said the tests discouraged Canadians crossing into the U.S. for holidays and day shopping trips.
He estimates some local retail businesses saw a 30 per cent drop in business due to a lack of Canadian travelers.
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“There have been some border business that have seen catastrophic losses,” he said.
Garry Douglas, president and CEO of the North Country Chamber of Commerce in Plattsburgh, N.Y., said the local region has over 100 Quebec-based businesses that employ 15 per cent of the workforce.
“That has been interrupted over the last two years,” said Douglas. “The U.S.-Canadian economic relationship is one of deep and growing economic integration.
“It’s not about boxes going back and forth. It’s about making things together.”
Beth Potter, president and CEO of the Tourism Industry Association of Canada, said tourism generated CDN$105 billion (US$83.13 billion) and employed nearly two million people in 2019. That revenue has been cut in half over the last two years and over 400,000 jobs were lost.
The current testing requirements were a deterrent for both business and leisure travelers, said Potter.
“It basically delivers the message that Canada was closed and we weren’t open and ready to welcome travelers back to our country,” she said.
“The U.S. traveler is our No. 1 international traveler by sheer volume. Anything we can do to encourage Americans to come back across the border and vacation or do business is a huge part of our industry.”
David Blandford, executive director of State of Washington Tourism, said Canada is the top international tourism market for the state.
“Ease is important in travel,” he said. “These announcements certainly will help that.”
Mark Agnew, senior vice-president of policy and government relations at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, believes removing the tests will encourage more conferences and conventions being held in Canada.
“Because we’ve reduced another barrier for fully vaccinated travelers it will encourage more business travel from foreign nationals into Canada, which of course is good for the local economy,” he said.
Duclos said the tests are being dropped because of Canada’s high vaccination rates and fewer cases of the virus being detected at the border.
Incoming tourists will still need to be vaccinated to visit Canada, and all inbound travelers must also upload their details to the ArriveCan app.
Vaccinated people could also still be subject to random molecular tests when they arrive at Canadian airports.
Unvaccinated Canadians and other travelers who are exempt from the vaccine mandate will still need to provide a negative rapid antigen or molecular test, or an accepted form of proof of recent infection to enter the country.
Unvaccinated travelers will also be tested on arrival, again eight days later, and will be required to quarantine for 14 days.
Douglas said the pandemic border restrictions were harming the special business and cultural relationship between the two countries.
“This isn’t just about somebody not buying gas on the other side of the border,” he said. “This is actually undermining the very foundation of all aspects of the U.S.-Canada relationship.”
What’s behind the protests in Canada?
How did the protests start?
Much of it can be tied to anger against Trudeau, a Liberal Party politician who has been prime minister since 2015 and is loathed by many conservatives, particularly in the western province of Alberta, the most conservative in the country.
In 2019, well before the current protests, demonstrators drove a convoy of hundreds of trucks from western Canada to Ottawa in opposition to the Trudeau government’s new carbon tax, an environmental measure they said would hurt the oil industry. Many wore yellow vests in solidarity with a French protest movement that same year against perceived economic injustice.
This year’s “freedom convoy” began in January with the first vehicles also setting out from the western part of the country and protesters from elsewhere joining in.
What do they want?
Convoy organizers said they were moved to protest by a federal government requirement that truck drivers be fully vaccinated if they want to avoid a 14-day quarantine upon re-entry from the United States. However it’s a bilateral measure with the U.S. imposing the same rule on Jan. 22 — meaning that even if Canada ended the restriction, it would make no practical difference.
The demonstrators in Ottawa, Ontario and elsewhere are primarily demanding an end to all COVID-19 vaccine mandates and other restrictions including mask requirements — though most of those were put in place by provincial governments. Protesters have called, too, for Trudeau’s resignation.
Who’s involved?
The “freedom convoy” was announced in early January by a group called Canada Unity, which was founded by James Bauder, a supporter of the QAnon conspiracy theories. Also involved are Tamara Lich, who previously belonged to the far-right Maverick Party, which calls for western Canada to become independent; and a former member of Trudeau’s Royal Canadian Mounted Police security detail.
Few actual commercial trucks are a part of the blockade at the Ambassador Bridge. Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Friday that the last count he had was five of them there, with the rest being personal cars: “Ninety-nine percent of the truckers are working their backs off. … This is about a political statement, that’s what this is about.”
Some far-right figures appear to be trying to capitalizing on the protests and pandemic fatigue to try to revitalize their movements, which represent a small minority of Canadians.
What has the response been?
Trudeau has stood firm against lifting vaccine mandates, calling the protesters a “fringe” who believe in conspiracy theories and wear “tinfoil hats.” That has only incensed them further.
The protests have also been widely condemned by truckers and trucking groups. That includes the Canadian Trucking Alliance, which says the vast majority of drivers are fully vaccinated, in line with the country’s broader population.
Pandemic restrictions have been far stricter in Canada than in the United States, but Canadians have largely supported them. The country has less hospital capacity, so provinces have been quick to impose lockdowns when infections rise. Canada’s COVID-19 death rate is one-third that of the United States.
In the United States, the protests have been cheered and promoted by Fox News personalities and former president Donald Trump, who issued a statement attacking “the harsh policies of far left lunatic Justin Trudeau who has destroyed Canada with insane COVID mandates.” Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has called the truckers “heroes” and “patriots,” and Tesla billionaire Elon Musk also tweeted his support.
The Ambassador Bridge
Spanning the Detroit River between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, the suspension bridge accounts for a whopping 25% of all trade between the two countries, with $328 million (417 million Canadian dollars) in goods crossing each day.
The bridge is critical to the food sector in both countries as well as the auto industry; with crossings all but shut down, shortages have forced plants on both sides of the border to go offline or operate at reduced capacity.
On Friday, a judge ordered protesters at the bridge to end the blockade and police warned that people blocking the streets could be subject to arrest and have their vehicles seized.
Premier Ford has declared a state of emergency that would allow penalties of up to a year in jail and fines of about $80,000 (100,00 Canadian dollars) for anyone impeding the movement of goods, people and services along critical infrastructure.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer urged Canadian authorities to resolve the standoff quickly, saying, “It’s hitting paychecks and production lines. That is unacceptable.”
What’s happening in Ottawa?
Thousands of protesters initially descended on the city two weeks ago. Their numbers have declined, but more than 400 trucks remain parked in front of the Parliament Buildings along with a makeshift kitchen.
Demonstrations have largely been peaceful but offensive to many Canadians. Some protesters parked and urinated on the National War Memorial, and Confederate flags and swastikas have been seen. A statue of Terry Fox, a national hero who set off on a fundraising trek across Canada after losing a leg to cancer, was draped with an upside-down Canadian flag and a sign reading, “mandate freedom.” Many protesters carry signs or flags with obscene insults referencing Trudeau.
Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson declared a state of emergency last week, saying the protests posed a threat to residents’ safety as many were being harassed. Locals complained about the nonstop honking of horns, but after a court injunction was obtained, that noise has dissipated.
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