By Andy Blatchford
10/19/2020 10:53 AM EDT
OTTAWA — Canada is keeping its land border with the United States closed to nonessential travel for another month as the Trudeau government expresses concerns about coronavirus caseloads south of the frontier.
Public Safety Minister Bill Blair announced Monday that Canada will extend the border restrictions until Nov. 21. The agreement with the U.S. on the border, in place since March, was due to expire Wednesday.
“Our decisions will continue to be based on the best public health advice available to keep Canadians safe,” Blair wrote on Twitter.
The prime minister’s view: Last week, when asked about Canadians hoping to travel south this winter, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told Winnipeg podcast The Start that the virus is far less under control in some parts of the U.S. than in Canada. Trudeau also said the American health care system is facing challenges with overloading.
“We have committed to keeping Canadians safe and we keep extending the border closures because the United States is not in a place where we would feel comfortable reopening those borders,” Trudeau said. “We will continue to make sure that Canadians’ safety is top of mind when we move forward. We see the cases in the United States and elsewhere around the world and we need to continue to keep these border controls in place.”
What’s next: With Canada dealing with its own second wave of Covid-19, governments are unlikely to ease border restrictions any time soon.
