For the fourth time, Canada and the United States should extend the ban on non-essential travel, two Canadian officials say Reuters. This would delay reopening as early as possible to the end of August.

No one reading the tea leaves of the United States and Canada can be surprised. Earlier this month, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada had handled the epidemic better than the United States, in a rare public rebuke.

Canada apparently has no desire to open the door to a country where COVID-19 rates are rising in four out of five states. In a recent poll, nine in ten residents of Quebec and Ontario said they did not want the Canada-U.S. Border to reopen in July.

The premiers of the Canadian provinces, the equivalent of the governors of the states of the United States, have also made it clear that they want the border to remain closed.

BC Premier John Horgan said in an interview last week, “We want to keep these borders closed for now. It is overwhelmingly supported by British Columbians.

Doug Ford, Premier of Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, today said the situation in Florida was “staggering” and “frightening”.

Last week, the chief medical officer for the Pacific province of British Columbia said there was no chance of non-essential travel with the United States this summer, given the extent of the virus to the south. from the border.

The original border closure has been put in place March 20th for 30 days then extended in April, May and June. Trade crossings for trade and commerce continued throughout the pandemic.

Just a week away from the expiration of the closing border agreement, Trudeau told Canadian reporters today that border talks with the United States are “underway”, following a call with President Trump this morning.

Last week, members of the United States Congress drafted a open letter addressed to Canada’s Minister of Public Safety, Bill Blair, calling for a gradual reopening of the Canada-US border and consideration of relaxing existing measures. “Decisions about Canada’s border are made by Canadians, for Canadians,” Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said in a statement.

Canada has reduced its rate of coronavirus infection to just three new daily cases per 100,000 people, according to the Harvard Global Health Institute Risk Assessment Map.

In comparison, the infection rate in the United States is 18 new cases per 100,000 daily, six times that of our neighbor to the north, with hot spots in Arizona, Florida, Texas, North Carolina. South and a dozen other states. This puts America on par with Brazil and South Africa in terms of mismanagement of the disease.

READ MORE