From the CBC:
“Heartbreak on the 49th parallel:
Lives interrupted by the Canada-U.S. border closure”
It's been a dismal few days for
Canada-U.S. relations. Specifically, for people in relationships with someone
on the other side of the border, dealing with depressing news about their
life-altering limbo. CBC News has spoken with numerous people struggling to
deal with restrictions on Canada-U.S. travel intended to slow the spread of
COVID-19. That includes two different mothers whose newborns have never seen
their fathers in person; a woman completing her pregnancy alone; two other
couples with children; and a couple who had their last date at the border,
where it was cut short by border agents. "Defeated," is how a new
Ontario mother, Megan Scott, described her state of mind this week. "It's heartbreaking," said Haylie
Lynn Gadsby, who has a new baby in Windsor, Ont., while the baby's belongings
are in Michigan — with her fiancé. "I'm absolutely miserable," said
Lori Bartell, nursing a baby in Prince Edward Island, stranded from her husband
in Maine. "I am quite mad,"
said Steven Husak, who has two children near Detroit and is trying to start a
new life with them in Ontario with his fiancée, whom they view as a mother.
They were hoping to go camping this summer.
This week's letdown: Two bits of news this week extended the
heartache across the 49th parallel. First,
as reported by CBC News and other media, government officials expect a ban on
non-essential land travel across the border to be renewed beyond June 21. Another
blow came in the fine print of an announcement from Prime Minister Justin
Trudeau. He announced a relaxation of rules for travelling to Canada — but they
only apply to people under specific conditions, which many stranded partners
say they cannot meet. They require a
15-day minimum stay in Canada, with 14 days in quarantine, and are only for
people who meet the legal definition of being immediate family to Canadian
citizens. A new community of people has popped up to share its frustrations in
private Facebook chat groups, which count hundreds of members. They come from
different places, and different walks of life, but one thing they tend to have
in common is they're at transitional moments in their lives. Those with pending
immigration applications, for example, have seen them slowed by the pandemic.
Parents, babies, separated by a
border: One online chat group was
started by a physician in Windsor, Ont., Ashley Cook, who is expecting a baby
this summer with her Michigan husband. "How are we treating people this
way?" Cook said. "This is hurting so many people." She said many
people can't quarantine for 14 days. For example, Bartell's husband is in
Maine, her future home, and can't leave for too long, as he's running a farm
with animals and a construction company. He hasn't been allowed to visit their
two-month-old baby, and now Bartell fears he still won't be able to under the
new rules. "I put on a pretty good front," she said, "but I'm an
emotional wreck." She said she leaves the phone next to her head at night
because the sound of her husband breathing helps her fall asleep. Scott, the
new mother who lives near London, Ont., said her husband can't self-quarantine
in Canada for that long either, as he's an active-duty member of the U.S.
military stationed in Virginia. Her husband has been away for nearly half the
life of their eight-month-old daughter. [We've missed] so many milestones.
First tooth, first word — which was 'Dada,'" she said. "[That's] time that we will never be able
to get back as a family."
Anger over confusing,
inconsistent rules: Separated couples
are also fuming about what they see as double-standards — with different rules
in different countries for different modes of transportation. Take air travel.
An official at U.S Customs and Border Protection confirmed Wednesday that the
U.S. allows Canadian travellers in by plane. That means someone living in a
Canadian border town could visit a nearby U.S. town — provided they can get a
plane ticket and fly there. "It boggles my mind," said April
Umbenhower, Husak's fiancée, who lives in Kingsville, Ont. Montrealer Béatrice
Beuillé said she can't understand why, in the name of public health, she's
barred from driving alone to Vermont — but it's fine if she manages to find a
short-haul flight. "I don't get the logic," she said. The Canadian
government, meanwhile, said it treats land and air passengers the same way.
Unlike the U.S., it has just relaxed rules for immediate family. That can get
murky, too. A spokesperson for the Canada Border Services Agency said she could
not give a definitive answer whether, for instance, unmarried parents of a
Canadian newborn are considered each other's immediate family. The official
suggested they likely would be, but it's at the discretion of a border services
officer. In any case, the visitor would need to quarantine and stay in Canada
for the minimum 15 days. Husak said people were hoping for broader exemptions
this week, and many are struggling emotionally. "This news really
hurt," he said. Husak got to know a number of affected families when he
gathered testimonials for a video about their stories. The title of his video,
Love Is Essential, is a riff on the idea that only essential workers are
allowed to cross the border as a result of the agreement between Canada and the
U.S. Some of those cut off by the border closure expressed frustration that
other activities are resuming, including businesses reopening and huge protests
across major cities. One Facebook group moderator urged people to stop posting
about unrelated political issues — notably, the large Black Lives Matter
protests.
Coping mechanisms: Ethan Gilson has a unique perspective on the
longing for love. He's not only a fiancé stuck in limbo, he's a mental-health
counsellor in Vermont. Canada-U.S.
border closure to be extended beyond June 21, sources say When asked about the
effects of isolation, he mentioned studies involving rats, in which lonelier
rats opted for drugs over water. He suggested several coping mechanisms —
meditation, yoga and counselling. Gilson is also growing an increasingly unruly
beard, the pandemic equivalent of a playoff beard. He'll shave his off when he
reunites with his partner, Béatrice Beuillé from Montreal.
One love story: He and Beuillé were in love before they had
their first date. They met online, while she was visiting family in France, and
he had her laughing so hard that she left the house to avoid waking her
parents. They finally met in person in Montreal. "At the end of the
[first] date, I told her I was going to marry her someday. She said, 'I hope
you do,'" Gilson said. He proposed
after six months, during a hike in Vermont. That was in early March. Then the
pandemic hit. "Which really sucked," Gilson said. Our biology is
meant to be social. We're always trying to connect. They managed to organize a
date at a tiny border checkpoint on a hilly, country road. They set up lawn
chairs on either side and talked for hours. The next week, when they went back,
they were scolded by border guards from both countries. "They told us,
'No, that was a mistake. We don't want to be managing this. The law isn't
clear.' So we continued via FaceTime," said Beuillé, who works for a cargo
company.
What's next: She's found this period isolating, living
away from her family and Gilson, and not having even shaken a human hand in
three months. She's tried calling government offices for information, but she
got bounced from one to another. As
month after month goes by, what most frustrates her is the lack of evidence of
a long-term plan. It's unclear, for example, what metrics governments are using
to decide when to reopen the border, she said. She and Gilson are starting to
plan their wedding. He's having a house built in Vermont. They hope to have the
ceremony on the property and move in on the wedding day. Internal documents
show CBSA scenarios to decide who gets across the border — and who doesn't The
mental-health counsellor offers a word to others struggling through this
moment. "Our biology is meant to be social. We're always trying to
connect," Gilson said. "This [isolation] is all going to end. This is
not permanent."
^ The way Canada (the Provincial,
Territorial and Federal Governments) is handing Covid-19 seems to be going
against everything that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms stands for.
Canadian citizens inside Canada are prevented from going from one Canadian
Province/Territory to another Canadian Province/Territory. Then there is this
whole mess at the Canadian border where flights have different rules than the
land border does. What about the places like Campobello Island, New Brunswick
where the only gas station is across the FDR Bridge inside Maine, USA? Or the border
towns where one side of the street is in Canada and the other side is in the
US? Trudeau seems to be using Covid-19 to tighten his grip on power after his
scandals from his last term. Maybe it’s because he is over-reacting after his
wife contacted Covid-19 and he is becoming paranoid – his appearance and
speeches seem to suggest that. Whatever the reasons the fact is that Canada
needs to open-up and sooner rather than later. You can’t keep Canadian citizens
from visiting their own country and you shouldn’t keep border towns prisoner. ^
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