For the past 20 months our nation and region have suffered from an unprecedented and well-publicized mutual restriction of non-essential travel on the northern border that has severely damaged the long-standing economic and social ties between the world’s largest democracies.
Two nations close in every way endured the unthinkable.
For generations, residents and communities in both western New York and southern Ontario have had a variety of trade, tourism, and family relationships that have blurred the international line that supposedly divides them. However, those unfamiliar with this border community reality may not know the drastic impact the non-essential travel bans caused by Covid-19 will have on those who have lived it.
With the recent announcement of the reopening of our ports to vaccinated Canadian travelers to the US on November 8th, we are beginning to see a light at the end of a long tunnel pertaining to an eventual return to normal in this binational partnership.
Much remains to be done, however, and our collective advocacy of citizens, elected officials and border organizations must continue unabated for the foreseeable future. This applies in particular to important members of our parliamentary and congressional delegations in southern Ontario and western New York as well as to the newly appointed, border-experienced governor of New York.
