'Deeply annoying:' U.S. border restrictions leave Canadians, Americans frustrated and confused
The announcement Wednesday that the United States would be keeping land border crossings closed to Canadians for all non-essential travel until at least Aug. 21 has left at least one border town mayor frustrated and annoyed.
Canada announced earlier this week that starting Aug. 9, all fully vaccinated Americans would be able to cross into Canada for any reason once again, but the U.S. is not reciprocating, a move that’s left Prescott Mayor Brett Todd frustrated.
“To find out that the Americans are simply not willing to do the same is simply very frustrating and deeply annoying, quite frankly,” said Prescott, Ont. mayor Brett Todd.
The Johnstown bridge is minutes from Prescott and connects with Ogdensburg, N.Y.
“We know there’s a lot of travel into the U.S. Some of it is to visit family and friends, a lot of it’s for shopping, a lot of it is for vacation purposes and so on,” Todd says, adding there are a lot of pent up Canadians wanting to make the trip Stateside.
“I do think that they’re actually selling themselves short on this as well. They’re impacting their own border communities.”
Jonathan Nause is one of those Canadians itching to travel again. The Ottawa resident recently returned via airplane from a NASCAR trip. He had plans to go to another race in early August in New York State, but has now it the brakes on that trip.
“Coming up on this one now, this next trip it’s going to have to be flying and renting a car again, I just don’t think that we’re going to be able to do it financially.”
Nause adds that in his experience, life has largely returned to normal in the States, and he even faced one of his fears to have that feeling again.
“I hate flying, terrified of heights, don’t like the concept of flying but I just did it. I had to go. I had to get back living life.”
The decision to restrict Canadians from crossing the border is one that is confusing to many. Canada has recently surpassed America in terms of vaccination rate; as of Wednesday morning 51.5% of Canadians were fully vaccinated compared to 48.3% of Americans.
“It’s definitely a little frustrating seeing that, because I think the Syracuse Mets had around 10,000 people in their stadium here recently,” says Jessie Hooper, the events manager at Thousand Islands Winery located in New York State, referencing a baseball game played on July 4.
Hooper says this would usually be the winery’s busiest time of year with lots of tours, tastings, and rentals, but they are missing a big chunk of their business due to the lack of Canadian tourists.
“We’re definitely missing some of those groups,” Hooper tells CTV News. “On the State side, we’re slowly seeing more and more of them.”
“It’s a one-way street right now and I would say I think the one way-street is still under construction,” says Todd of the border situation.
“I’m not sure how much travelling is actually going to be happening.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Which Canadian cities have the highest and lowest grocery prices?
Where you live plays a big factor in what you pay at the grocery store. And while it's no secret the same item may have a different price depending on the store, city or province, we wanted to see just how big the differences are, and why.
'State or state-sponsored actor' believed to be behind B.C. government hacks
The head of British Columbia’s civil service has revealed that a “state or state-sponsored actor” is behind multiple cyber-security incidents against provincial government networks.
Swarm of 20,000 bees gather around woman’s car west of Toronto
A swarm of roughly 20,000 bees gathered around a woman’s car in the parking lot of Burlington Centre.
Mother assaulted by stranger while breastfeeding baby in her car: Vancouver police
A person was arrested in East Vancouver Thursday after allegedly entering a car while a mother was breastfeeding her four-month-old boy.
More than half the Canadians once detained in Syrian camps for suspected ISIS family members have returned home
A total of 29 Canadians have been freed from detention camps in northeast Syria and brought back to Canada since human rights advocates began lobbying for their release years ago.
Rare severe solar storm Friday could bring spectacular aurora light show across Canada
A rare and severe solar storm is expected to bring spectacular displays of the northern lights, also known as aurora borealis, across much of Canada and parts of the United States on Friday night.
Canada abstains from Palestinian UN membership vote but supports two-state solution
Canada was one of 25 countries that abstained from a United Nations vote on Palestinian membership that passed with overwhelming support on Friday.
Amish youth experience a rite of passage called Rumspringa. It’s not what you might think
The idea of “Rumspringa” has a specific spot in the American imagination. A rite of passage for young people in some Amish communities, Rumspringa is seen by most outsiders as a wild time away from strict Amish rules, when teenagers can experiment with the modern vices of the world.
Djokovic needs medical attention after getting knocked on the head by a water bottle at Italian Open
Novak Djokovic needed medical attention after apparently getting knocked on the head by a water bottle after a win at the Italian Open on Friday.