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Politicians on both sides of the Canadian-United States border hope the combined pressure will convince the Canadian federal government to eliminate the PCR tests required for people entering Canada.
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At a news conference Monday morning, the first day Canadians were allowed to enter the United States at land border crossings for non-essential travel, a coalition of mayors from border cities, as well as the Democratic congressman from New York Brian Higgins, asked the federal government to remove the Covid testing requirement.
“We will see a significant rebound in economic activity, but we are still doing it with one hand tied behind our back with this redundant and unnecessary testing requirement,” said Higgins, who has been an outspoken critic of both governments’ COVID-19 travel. . restrictions through the pandemic.
Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens said the testing requirement makes little sense to Canadians in border cities hoping to cross for shorter visits, citing the Detroit Lions’ popular Thanksgiving football game. .
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“The current system allows someone to get a PCR test in Canada, cross over to Detroit to cheer on the Lions with 65,000 fans in the stadium, and come back to Canada with the test they did before they left,” Dilkens said. What good is that test to someone? I think we can all agree that it is not. “
Ultimately, the proof requirement is not “to follow the science,” Higgins said.
“The governments of the US and Canada failed their people in developing a coherent communication strategy related to what we have all been warned to do and that is: follow the science, follow the facts, follow the data. “.
More to come.
Reference-windsorstar.com