Border city businesses call on federal government to drop COVID border restrictions
Businesses in border cities are calling on the government to lift COVID-19 border restrictions, including suspending the controversial ArriveCan app.
Many businesses say they depend on American travellers to help keep their businesses afloat, but U.S. visitors have continued to stay away this year.
“A lot of it has to do with, I think, how hard it is to get here,” said Tammy Elliott, who owns and operates the Dockside Restaurant located at the St. Clair River in Sarnia.
Elliott said, in a normal year, U.S. visitors account for 25 per cent of overall business. This year, it’s down to just five per cent.”
“We do have some boaters here that are American that go through the whole process of ArriveCan and all of the stuff, but it definitely is down.”
The Sarnia Lambton Chamber of Commerce has joined a coalition of Chambers in calling on the federal government to lift the remaining restrictions, and most importantly, suspend the ArriveCan app.
According to the Sarnia Lambton Chamber, visits to Canada are still barely half of what they were pre-COVID.
CEO Carrie McEachran said that makes it tough for tourism-dependent businesses to bounce back.
“Tourism has decreased over the past three years. Now we’re in a recovery period, and it’s hard to recover when we have all these restrictions holding us back,” said McEachran.
The ArriveCan app processes traveller information, including their vaccination status. The federal government said it’s the easiest way for travelers to show they meet public health requirements.
“Show us the proof that this is actually impacting public health. If we can see the proof, we will stand behind that one hundred per cent,” McEachran added.
Last week, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health Dr. Kieran Moore said the province’s seventh wave had peaked, as COVID rates appear to be falling again.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Widow looking for answers after Quebec man dies in Texas Ironman competition
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Wildfire southwest of Peace River spurs evacuation order
People living near a wildfire burning about 15 kilometres southwest of Peace River are being told to evacuate their homes.
World seeing near breakdown of international law amid wars in Gaza and Ukraine, Amnesty says
The world is seeing a near breakdown of international law amid flagrant rule-breaking in Gaza and Ukraine, multiplying armed conflicts, the rise of authoritarianism and huge rights violations in Sudan, Ethiopia and Myanmar, Amnesty International warned Wednesday as it published its annual report.
Train derailed in Sarnia after colliding with a truck
Police are investigating after a transport truck collided with a train in Sarnia.
Fewer medical students going into family medicine contributing to doctor shortage
As some family doctors are retiring and others are moving away from family medicine, there are fewer medical students to take their place.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.