Canada: US border measures to last until virus under control
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the ban on nonessential travel with the United States won't be lifted until COVID-19 is significantly more under control everywhere in the world
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday the ban on nonessential travel with the United States will not be lifted until COVID-19 is significantly more under control around the world.
Canada and the U.S. have limited border crossings since March, extending the restrictions each month.
“Until the virus is significantly under more control everywhere around the world, we are not going to be releasing the restrictions at the border," Trudeau told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
“We are incredibly lucky that trade in essential goods, in agriculture products, in pharmaceuticals is flowing back and forth as it always had,” he said. "It’s just people not travelling, which I think is the important thing.”
Trudeau said although President-elect Joe Biden has an “obvious” different approach to the pandemic than President Donald Trump, the situation in the U.S. remains serious and it will take awhile to change that.
About 400,000 people crossed the world’s longest international border each day before the pandemic.
About 75% of Canada’s exports go to the U.S. which has more confirmed cases and deaths from COVID-19 than any country in the world.
Trudeau has come under criticism from opposition parties for saying Canadians won’t be among the first to get a vaccine against COVID-19 because the first doses will likely go to citizens of the countries they are made in. Canada doesn't have mass vaccine-production facilities.
But Trudeau said at a news conference on Tuesday that Canada was among the first to pre-order Moderna's vaccine candidate and, “We are guaranteed some of Moderna’s first batch if the vaccine is safe and approved.”
"Already, Moderna has submitted their candidate for Health Canada review, as have Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca-Oxford. And just yesterday, Johnson & Johnson joined this list as the fourth candidate for Health Canada’s review."
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.