Interprovincial travel depends on vaccinations

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This article was published 16/06/2021 (1646 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Returning to quick jaunts to Saskatchewan or a weekend in Ontario depends on vaccination, Manitoba’s premier said Tuesday following a meeting of western and northern premiers.

“Any question on reopening of borders is inseparably linked with vaccination uptake,” Pallister said during a virtual press conference with the premiers of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, the Northwest Territories, Yukon and Nunavut.

“Clearly, the higher the uptake, the more security Canadians will enjoy. Old targets of herd immunity have disappeared as variants have arisen that increase the threat of rapid transmission, so any discussion around reduction of border barriers has to recognize the reality of the vaccine as the way out of this mess.”

Manitoba has already linked self-isolation-free travel to being fully vaccinated.

Two weeks after getting a second dose, fully vaccinated Manitobans can travel within Canada without having to isolate for 14 days when returning home. People outside the provincial borders who are fully vaccinated can also come into Manitoba without self-isolation.

The consensus among western premiers is to get back to whatever normal will now be, British Columbia premier John Horgan said, but the federal government should be taking the lead on the issue.

Horgan said he wants to see a clear plan when people arrive in Canada in the coming months.

“All Canadians want to get back to something resembling normal. All of us are challenging that issue of what exactly normal is going to be, and that’s going to take time and patience and I would suggest caution,” he said.

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney said he and other premiers would be bringing ideas to the federal government to make travel easier.

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe echoed Pallister and said the premiers are asking the federal government for a plan on when fully vaccinated Canadians can travel internationally without quarantine.

“It may be a phased-in approach that involves a test, it may be a day or two quarantine that involves a test — I don’t know what it is, but what we are asking the federal government for is to communicate to Canadians on what their plan is how they are going to allow for travel, because it is important,” Moe said.

The group of premiers also discussed fiscal and staffing challenges in the health-care system.

“As we find our way out of the third wave, COVID has shown us the limitations of our health-care system, and we need to find a way to better respond moving forward,” Nunavut Premier Joe Savikataaq said.

He said the premiers are calling for reoccurring funding and more funding for mental health and addictions on the other side of the pandemic.

The premiers are also “strongly agreeing” hate has no place in Canada, Savikataaq said, and there is a need to do better for Indigenous and Muslim communities.

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