Canada and the United States announced this week that restrictions on non-essential border travel would remain in place until at least Oct. 21, with public safety minister Bill Blair saying the feds will continue to make the best decision to “keep Canadians safe.”
But according to U.S. President Donald Trump, Canadians actually want the border reopened as soon as possible.
During remarks to reporters on Friday, Trump claimed Canada is actually pushing to reopen the border, despite absolutely no evidence to suggest that.
“We’re looking at the border with Canada. Canada would like it open, and you know we want to get back to normal business,” Trump said.
Canadians, for the record, disagree.
The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths out of any country in the world, with more than 6.5 million cases and nearly 200,000 deaths reported. The per capita rates between our countries are vastly different to — the U.S. has reported around 19,000 cases per one million Americans, compared to just 3,750 cases per one million Canadians.
A July Ipsos poll found that the majority of Canadians wanted border restrictions in place until at least the end of the year. And a poll released this week from Halifax-based Narrative Research found that 70 per cent of Canadians are in favour of the border remaining closed.
And mayors of Canadians cities near the border are also keen to keep restrictions in place. Last week, a group of border mayors urged public safety minister Bill Blair to keep the border closed until at least the end of the year.
“The situation in the United States is getting worse,” Fort Erie Mayor Wayne Redekop told CTV this week. “At this stage of the game, it doesn’t make sense to be lifting the border restrictions.”
So no Trump, Canada is in no rush to reopen.