'We're the Rodney Dangerfield of cities right now': Border city mayors demand respect from Ottawa

Mayors from border communities including Windsor, Sarnia and Niagara Falls are asking Ottawa to scrap the ArriveCan app for land border crossings.

“We're being punished by not being recognized that this need for this app has gone and you can't justify its continued existence. I don't know how we get Ottawa’s attention on this,’ said Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley during a virtual news conference Wednesday.

“We’re the Rodney Dangerfield of cities right now because we're not treated with respect by the federal government."

The mayors held the news conference one day after the federal government made their announcement on easing COVID restrictions for travellers.

“Yesterday's timid announcement by federal ministers further solidifies that this government doesn't understand border communities or worse, doesn't care,” said Barbara Barrett, executive director of the Frontier Duty Free Association.

“Border businesses that depend on US tourism are still 50 per cent down from 2019,” said Barrett, who was critical of the government for allowing unvaccinated strangers to travel together, but denying unvaccinated families from crossing the border in their own vehicle.

“Inexplicably, this federal government has punished border communities with inconsistent and incoherent border travel rules,” said Barrett.

“It's (ArriveCan app) like a boa constrictor on our communities,” said Mayor Bradley. “It’s just squeezing the economy when we should be going in the other direction.”

Bradley and Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati told the media they have had conversations with various federal ministries, asking for the app to be removed.

 “There seems to be within the Liberal government support. But we're not getting (support) from PMO (Prime Ministers’ Office), which seems very distracted from the border city issue,” said Bradley.

“$105 billion for tourism and hospitality in Canada, and that's at risk right now,” said Diodati. “As far as jobs go, here in Niagara its 40,000 jobs directly affected by tourism — 40,000 people counting on tourism to feed their families.”

Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens was unable to participate in the news conference Wednesday because of a different commitment.

In an interview after, Dilkens said he supports the group’s efforts to have the app removed because it is the final barrier to a return to normal life living in a border community.

“Two years of not being able to welcome people across the border, people start developing other habits. And it's harder to bring them back,” said Dilkens.

He also says as long as the ArriveCan app is mandatory at the border, Transit Windsor’s tunnel bus will be idled.

“It's impossible to run a system, a transit system on schedule if you have the drivers trying to police something like the ArriveCan app,” said Dilkens. “If you bring people across the border into Canada, and they haven't done the work that is required for entry into Canada, the bus then has to wait for those passengers to be cleared and (it) completely disrupts the system.”

If the ArriveCan app is eliminated, Dilkens says they could get the tunnel bus back up and running within a month.

CTV News is awaiting a response from the Public Health Agency of Canada about their intentions for the ArriveCan application.