Niagara Falls, N.Y. (WBEN) - Following a roundtable discussion on Wednesday with a number of different leaders, organizations and local travel and destination representatives for in Niagara Falls, Congressman Brian Higgins (NY-26), once again, called for the lifting of all border restrictions between the United States and Canada.
"The greatest inducement to travel is ease of travel, and that is infrastructure, that is administration, and that is technology. So we have to find a way, the province of Ontario - the largest province in all of Canada, it's about 40% of the entire population of Canada, it is within 90 minutes of Buffalo and Niagara Falls - we should be doing much better economically, and in terms of our quality of life," said Higgins outside the Aquarium of Niagara. "I'm calling for the lifting of all COVID restrictions, as it relates to the border, and a review of post-9/11 restrictions, as well.
"To open up the border, this is not East Asia, this is not North Africa, this is not the Middle East, where there is nothing but conflict within the region. We're surrounded by friends and fish, and we have coexisted for many, many decades, and it's accrued to the benefit of both the United States and Canada. Every aspect of the Western York economy - professional sports, arts and culture, health care - is tied to reliable, predictable ease of access to-and-from Western New York to Ontario."
As co-chair of the Northern Border Caucus in the United States Congress, Higgins says he plans to take a lot of the ideas that were expressed during Wednesday's roundtable back Washington, D.C. and turn it into public policy. However, he, once again, emphasized the importance of finally getting the restrictions lifted.
"We need them lifted now, because it's an acknowledgement of the scientific discoveries that have been made that are keeping our people safe, and are keeping our economy, the Ontario economy and the world economy from collapsing," Higgins said.
It was nearly three weeks ago when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention relaxed its COVID-19 guidelines in the U.S.. This included the CDC dropping the recommendation that Americans quarantine themselves if they come into close contact with an infected person. The CDC also said people no longer need to stay, at least, six feet away from others.
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While life has seemingly returned to normal for many people across the United States, Higgins says there won't be a complete return to normalcy until the U.S.-Canada border restrictions are completely lifted.
"[The CDC] presented information that was confusing, sometimes conflicting, and when that occurs, those institutions lose the trust of the people that they're put in place to protect. That's a problem, but it's a start," Higgins said. "I would rather see them make announcements about lifting all the restrictions, and working a lot harder with our Canadian counterparts, because they, too, have an agency that does disease control. Speak with one voice, speak clearly, lift the restrictions, and that's when we'll get back to a sense of normalcy. We are not there yet. There are still policies that conflict with each other, and again, people don't have time. They're busy in their own lives, working, raising their families to try to decipher what they have time for."