'It can’t come quick enough': Windsorites rejoice US land border reopening announcement
From family to business to pleasure, Windsorites have a laundry list of reasons why they’re excited for the US land borders to reopen in November.
“It can’t come quick enough,” says Carol Godin. “I have two grandkids that live in Detroit, I haven’t been able to go over there for the last two years.”
The White House confirmed Tuesday night the United States land and sea border will reopen to non-essential travel for fully vaccinated travellers in November after a record long closure of nearly 20 months.
The border announcement means local residents won’t have to spend hundreds of dollars and hop on numerous flights to visit family in Michigan who live a short drive away.
“Meeting my fiancé during a pandemic online was not an expected thing but it happened,” says Todd Shearon, who throughout the pandemic had to fly from Windsor to Toronto to Detroit, to visit his Michigan fiancé.
“You roll with those punches and they were like Mike Tyson punches, unfortunately they hurt pretty hard.”
Local snowbirds who were worried they would be forced to stay home for a second consecutive winter are also breathing a sigh of relief.
“We’re winter Texans. We winter for five months in Arlington Texas in Sunshine RV resort,” says snowbird Cameron Clark.
“I’d like to say hi to all my friends in Texas. See you soon, hopefully the first weekend of November.”
The local business community is also eagerly awaiting the border reopening.
“I can tell you how relieved we are, how relieved the businesses are, how relieved communities on both sides of the border are,” says Rakesh Naidu, Windsor-Essex Chamber of Commerce, president and CEO.
While supply chains and trucks have kept rolling, people who need to cross to do business have been waiting.
“When people meet and interact and engage, business happens,” says Naidu. “Finally, we are able to reclaim our lives back, our business lives back and bring some level of normalcy in our business relationship and business transactions.”
Jon Azzopardi, owner of Laval Tool and Mould in Oldcastle, Ont. says crossing into the U.S. right now is loaded with uncertainly.
He believes U.S. authorities have a lot to learn from Canada’s strict, but predictable approach to reopening the border which he says will do wonders to rebuild fractured relationships.
“I don’t think we’d be foolish to believe that these relationships aren’t going to take time to rebuild, but this is the first step towards moving to that,” Azzopardi says. “So that we can tell our clients that both sides of the border have a way for us to move people across the border.”
Windsor’s mayor has been pressing for a plan since the onset of the pandemic.
“Getting the border open in a safe way, which means fully vaccinated people able to cross I think is a great step. The devil of course is in the details, what will be required to cross in the U.S. is not entirely clear yet,” Mayor Drew Dilkens says.
According to Reuters, Canadian travellers won’t need a PCR test to enter the states, but will need proof of vaccination documentation and a test on the way home.
“Hopefully we’ll have guidance and clarity on that over the next few days,” Dilkens says. “But I like everyone is very excited to get the border open, I think it will be great to reconnect families and to get the economy humming once again.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment which has been banned at Queen’s Park.
Mountain guide dies after falling into a crevasse in Banff National Park
A man who fell into a crevasse while leading a backcountry ski group deep in the Canadian Rockies has died.
B.C. tenants evicted for landlord's use after refusing large rent increase to take over neighbouring suite
Ashley Dickey and her mother rented part of the same Coquitlam duplex in three different decades under three different landlords.
Expert warns of food consumption habits amid rising prices
A new survey by Dalhousie University's Agri-Food Analytics Lab asked Canadians about their food consumption habits amid rising prices.
Montreal actress calls Weinstein ruling 'discouraging' but not surprising
A Montreal actress, who has previously detailed incidents she had with disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, says a New York Court of Appeals decision overturning his 2020 rape conviction is 'discouraging' but not surprising.
'Deep ignorance': Calls for Manitoba trustee to resign sparked after comments about Indigenous people and reconciliation
A rural Manitoba school trustee is facing calls to resign over comments he made about Indigenous people and residential schools earlier this week.
Here's why Harvey Weinstein's New York rape conviction was tossed and what happens next
Here's what you need to know about why movie mogul Harvey Weinstein's rape conviction was thrown out and what happens next.
2 teens charged in Halifax homicide: police
Two teenagers have been charged with second-degree murder in connection to an alleged homicide near the Halifax Shopping Centre earlier this week.
12-year-old hippo in Japan raised as a male discovered to be a female
When Gen-chan arrived at a zoo in Japan in 2017, no one questioned whether the then-five-year-old hippopotamus was a boy. Seven years later, zoo staff made a surprising discovery: Gen-chan, now 12, was female.