Buffalo, NY (WBEN) It came as no surprise to local attorney Jamie Fiegel when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the US-Canadian border would remain closed until November 21 at the earliest.
"The Canadian public has made it very clear they support the border restrictions due to the fact they feel it is keeping them safer from COVID," says Fiegel.
She says because each state has different policies in handling travel restrictions and being in public, and that's confusing to Canada as a whole to try and allow US citizens back into Canada, but they cannot pick and choose which states they will allow.
Another reason: Canada's Quarantine Act. "Even if they let visitors in, they would have to quarantine for two weeks, which would dissuade US citizens from coming because if you wanted a true tourism experience, you wouldn't want to quarantine for two weeks, then visit Niagara Falls," says Fiegel. Fiegel notes Canadian citizens are also under the act. "Canadians can fly from Canada to the US and back. When they come back, they too are under the two week quarantine. When they remove the quarantine, that's when they'll feel comfortable welcoming US citizens back."
Fiegel says she's been helping businesses across the country get into Canada and back because they have a location or customers there. "They need to be able to get back and forth to resume their operations, and we have been successful getting them back and forth and exempt from quarantine when appropriate," says Fiegel. "It's really important because so many months have passed and things have to get back to normal or there will be long term consequences of job losses in the US and Canada. Both governments understand what's at stake, and they're using common sense to help businesses keep their cross border operations moving."
Fiegel believes it won't be until 2021 before the border reopens.
