Feds eyeing Canada-U.S. land border reopening
As the province prepares to reopen, the Canada-U.S. border is still closed.
But after consultations with border city mayors, including the mayor of Sault Ste. Marie, Ottawa is looking at mid-June for a re-opening of land crossings.
Mayor Christian Provenzano said he was approached in May by Federal Public Safety Minister Bill Blair to convene a meeting of border city mayors to discuss the eventual reopening of the border. He said vaccination rates will be a key factor.
"It will be done in a staged approach and it will be tied, essentially, to vaccination rates," Provenzano said. "So, we don’t really have any more detail than that. The main point that was made to the minister and the government was that we all thought it was really important that the government have a clear, transparent plan and that they make that plan public."
Provenzano said he believes a border re-opening plan is imminent. He said while many people in the Sault are anxious to visit their American neighbours, public health and safety must come first.
On Wednesday, the feds announced plans to remove the quarantine hotel requirement for fully vaccinated Canadian travellers returning to the country. It is expected to come into effect in early July.
The U.S.-Canada border has been closed for non-essential travel since March 2020. The current closure expires on June 21.
ALGOMA'S COVID-19 SITUATION
As of June 9 at 3 p.m., the Algoma District had six active COVID-19 infections among residents along with one non-resident currently in the region. Since the pandemic began, there have been a total of 396 COVID-19 cases in Algoma and six COVID-related deaths. To date, 60.2 per cent of Algoma residents have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and 11.2 per cent of the eligible population ages 12 and older are fully vaccinated with two doses.
As of June 10, the percentage of Canadians who have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine is just under 63 per cent, out of 72 per cent of the population currently eligible. Just over nine per cent of Canada's total population has been fully vaccinated.
Canada currently has the twelfth highest number of first doses of the COVID-19 in the world.
COVID-19 VACCINATION RATES IN THE U.S.
In the U.S., 63.9 per cent of adults have at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website at the time of publication and 51.8 per cent of the total population. Meanwhile, 42.5 per cent of the total U.S. population has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Deaths of 4 people on Sask. farm confirmed as murder-suicide
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
Full parole granted to man convicted in notorious 'McDonald's murders' in Cape Breton
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Incident on Calgary's Reconciliation Bridge comes to safe resolution
Nearly 20 hours after a man climbed and remained perched on top of the Reconciliation Bridge in downtown Calgary, the situation came to a peaceful resolution.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
George Washington family secrets revealed by DNA from unmarked 19th century graves
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
'We won't forget': How some Muslims view Poilievre's stance on Israel-Hamas war
A spokesman for a regional Muslim advocacy group says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's stance on the Israel-Hamas war could complicate his party's relationship with Muslim Canadians.
Why some Christians are angry about Trump's 'God Bless the USA' Bible
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.