Smiley90

3x5mins of minor inconvenience to you doesn't trump the protection of other Canadian citizens. There are people who get covid tests done every single day and I don't hear them complaining about it.

tentseller

Yes, Healthcare workers.

WildcatYXU

Yeah, sure. Approximately 3 hours waiting for the covid tests in YXU. 2 hours standing at partial sun for the covid test in Hamilton, BM. Do you want to pay me for this time? I'll PM you the address where you can send the cheque. It is for your safety after all.

WildcatYXU

It may be a surprise to you, but that essential worker ........ wasn't invented for the essential workers. Surprisingly, somebody in the government realized that there aren't enough truckers in Canada to supply the country while being only allowed one trip in 3 weeks. And since the critical infrastructure needs maintenance, we were added to them. Your arrogant remark about whining essential workers is highly offensive. I guess we should stop working to watch the Badenochs of this country whine about missing stuff that was taken for granted only a half year ago.

Back to the topic: It is time to stop this idiotic blanket ban on international travel. Travelers from countries with much lower incidence rates than Canada are banned from entering the country and Canadians entering from these countries are subject to quarantine. I'm surprised that some of these countries are allowing Canadians to enter and don't maintain reciprocity.

Badenoch

"Essential workers" who find the testing regime too onerous or time consuming should take compensation requests to their employers. Should they be self-employed they should add it to their invoices or consider it the cost of doing business. Failing that there is always CERB. Regardless of how indispensable one worker imagines himself to be he can be replaced.

Tight border controls are part of why Canada is ahead of many other nations on virus management. Dropping our guard is an invitation to be the next Florida.

Smiley90

Are you willing to pay for the missed work of everyone who has to quarantine should you get sick and not have a test before coming to Canada and who's unlucky enough to have interacted with you after that?

Siempre Viajando

I don't think anyone is suggesting that we just "drop our guard" on international travelers. But WildcatYXU is right in stating that Canada needs to move away from a blanket travel ban with exceptions considered on a one-off basis (more or less a crap shoot, as I recall someone saying in an earlier post). International business travel is necessary and legitimate, and cannot be throttled indefinitely. Regular international business travelers like WildcatYXU and me are going to have a heck of a time making it work under the current scheme whereby we have to beg for an exemption every time we re-enter Canada. CERB is not an alternative, at least not for me!

I get the feeling that some Canadians want to maintain the current strict limitations on international travelers until, like New Zealand, we reach a state of zero community infection for an extended period of time (and even New Zealand has had a recent uptick in cases) or until an effective vaccine is widely available. This is not realistic and should not be our objective. C19 is going to continue to circulate in the Canadian population and there is absolutely nothing we can do to stop it. That much should be abundantly clear. Our objective should be to limit the spread so that infections don't again threaten to overwhelm the Canadian health care system. In addition, we need to do a better job of protecting vulnerable Canadians (the elderly for example, and immuno-compromised individuals) than we did in March and April. But we should not be treating the entire population as "vulnerable", which is what we are doing in effect with the current international travel restrictions.

We have friends originally from France who will be traveling there (from Toronto) in a few weeks for vacation. They will not be obliged to self-quarantine when they enter France but under current rules they will have to do so when they return to Canada. Understandably, the French government is asking the Canadian government for a reciprocal arrangement and I'd be surprised if there were not other governments doing the same. The Canadian government should respond appropriately by starting to loosen the blanket quarantine requirement, at least for travelers coming from selected countries. And I believe that the Canadian government should make it easier for Canadian business travelers to return from all international destinations by putting into place a clearer framework. We need to stop the crap shoot.

None of this would be inconsistent with the primary objective of limiting the spread of C19 in Canada.

Badenoch

I was doing frequent international travel until COVID and have managed since then. I could apply for "essential worker" status but I'm getting along just fine without it.

Swinging open the doors for foreigners begs an increase in cases. Some may want to swap Canadian lives for the international jet set but the majority of people don't. Canadians have worked too hard to contain the virus to simply toss it all away because people from France want to swan off to a continental holiday and are pouting at the prospect of a two week quarantine when they return.

Finkface

But are you really, though? 🤷🏼‍♀️ You had a letter written stating your travel was essential. Not to Canada or the Canadian people, but to your company and to you personally. As you said, you are feeding your family. I said it before, I think we all know what ‘essential‘ means and a regular business trip that is not part of an essential service is not it. You had to (politely) cajole and convince the CBSA agent to let you scam out of quarantine.

It does sound like WildcatYXU does fit that bill. He stated he works in critical infrastructure in a business that is part of the supply chain to Canada. That is exactly what the exemption is meant for. Not because you want to keep collecting your paycheck to support yourself.

TheCanuckian

FYI for those who are returning: They are making it clear they expect that you will quarantine alone. If you return home to your family, and fail to distance from them, your family needs to quarantine as well. Two different agents told me that today as I returned via YYZ. That is true even if you have no symptoms and are not aware of any close contacts with an infected person.

Smiley90

I'll ask a question I asked earlier that went unanswered before:

If I turnstile at the border, that does NOT mandate mandatory quarantine, right? Just checking.

(leave Canada to talk to CBP, then return)

OSSYULYYZ

I read somewhere that Flagpoling is considered Non-Discretionary, so I would assume that this would also require a Quarantine?

Smiley90

That'd be ridiculous since I'd only be in the US for like 30 seconds... and my boss wouldn't like it very much if I told him I had to quarantine for 2 weeks because I needed to go talk to CBP.

YVR Cockroach

Easier and less trouble at the airport?

emma69

France's cases have spiked, and has been added back to the UK quarantine's list. To suggest that people should be exempt from quarantine coming into Canada from a destination where cases are now the highest they have been during the pandemic is downright ludicrous. I get that there are essential workers who have no choice but to travel, but a holiday is absolutely not essential, much as many of us would like it to be. I strongly believe that the travel restrictions combined with mandatory quarantine are the reasons we are coping as well as we are. I dread the thoughts of the borders reopening as I think it could be disastrous if done too soon. I don't think reopening indoor spaces like restaurants is a good idea (and I certainly won't be partaking), nor do I think the plan for reopening the schools in ON is adequate to protect children and staff. While I would very much like things to be back to normal, things aren't normal, and as other countries have shown, relaxing restrictions such as quarantine right now will result in hundreds or thousands more deaths. I don't think that is an acceptable trade off so someone can take a holiday.