Liberal MP Pushes Trudeau on U.S. Border Opening; PM Says He Won't Rush

Liberal MP Pushes Trudeau on U.S. Border Opening; PM Says He Won’t Rush

May 31, 2021 ctn_admin

It’s not hard for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to ignore “open the border” calls from U.S. politicians. But when someone in the Liberal Party caucus makes the same call, it’s a different story.

Longtime Liberal MP Wayne Easter, who chairs the House of Commons finance committee and represents the riding of Malpeque, Prince Edward Island, told POLITICO last week that the Trudeau government needs to lay out a border reopening plan — and soon.

“As you get into July 1, Canada Day, and July 4, Independence Day, then those target dates are real pressure points for wanting to be normalized,” Easter, who co-chairs the Canada–U.S. Inter-Parliamentary Group, said in an interview with the website. “The heat’s on, and I think we absolutely must have a plan.”

But Trudeau today said he won’t be pushed into making a quick decision.

“We’re on the right path, but we’ll make our decisions based on the interests of Canadians and not based on what other countries want,” he told a news conference in Ottawa.

Trudeau again said that 75% of Canadians need to be vaccinated with at least one dose and daily cases need to continue to decline across the country before his government would be willing to ease travel restrictions.

Right now, according to CTV, 65.18% of all Canadians 12 and older have been vaccinated with at least one does. For Canadians as a whole, the number is 56.93%. That’s up almost a half a percentage point from Sunday’s figures, and more vaccines are coming to Canada in the coming days. But it’s unclear when Canada might reach the 75% figure.

Asked if Canada could start opening the border on June 22, Easter told POLITICO it depends on how COVID-19 numbers and vaccination rates are going on each side of the border. Even if the gates don’t open in some form on that day, Easter said the Trudeau government should at least provide some benchmarks and timelines for the Canadian public.

“You need to lay out the plan regardless of that uncertainty. People need to know where they’re going. They need to be given that hope,” he said. “It’s absolutely essential at that point that the plan is completely laid out.”

The mayor of Windsor, Ontario last week said he thinks Canada could open the border June 21.

The Daily Hive reports that Beth Potter, the President and CEO of the TIAC, issued a statement on May 28 imploring the government to “save tourism.”

“The pressure is mounting for the Canada/US border to open,” Potter’s statement reads. “The federal government must act now and open the border for [the] end of June and send a strong signal of a normal travel summer to save tourism in Canada.”