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鈥淚t鈥檚 time our governments allow Canadians to travel freely,鈥� says an open letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and all premiers as the B.C. government prepares to lift its in-province advisory to stick to essential travel only in the COVID-19 pandemic.

The letter is signed by a business and tourism leaders across the country, including Greg D鈥橝vignon, CEO of the Business Council of B.C., Perrin Beatty, president of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, hotel owners and airport executives from Halifax to Prince George. It urges a return to not just travel within Canada but internationally as well.

notes that Australia, Germany, France and Italy have started to reopen borders with countries deemed safe.

鈥淭he mandatory 14-day quarantine and complete closure to all visitors from abroad is no longer necessary and is out of step with other countries around the globe,鈥� the letter states. 鈥淣ot all countries and regions are risky, and we shouldn鈥檛 treat them as such.鈥�

The open letter is the latest of a series of distress signals sent by tourist-dependent businesses as summer approaches and many operators fear they won鈥檛 survive the pandemic restrictions. B.C. Premier John Horgan has indicated the province is preparing to lift a travel advisory that features highway signs advising 鈥渆ssential travel only.鈥�

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Horgan and B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix have repeatedly indicated in recent days that they consider U.S. travel to be a non-starter at this stage, with coronavirus infections on the rise in Washington, Oregon, California and Arizona.

Horgan and provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry have also signalled that B.C.鈥檚 low infection rate means travel within the province will soon be promoted via a Destination B.C. marketing campaign.

Henry has stressed that non-essential travel is up to local authorities, including Indigenous communities that have indicated they don鈥檛 want infection risk from visitors to remote locations such as Haida Gwaii.

The Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council June 9 to impose strict conditions on their traditional territory along 300 km of the west coast of Vancouver Island. They include availability of coronavirus testing for residents and screening and 14-day self-isolation of non-residents before travel.

鈥淣uu-chah-nulth Tribal Council strongly opposes the opening of the Canada border for duration of the COVID-19 pandemic and until Nuu-chah-nulth leaders advise otherwise,鈥� President Judith Sayers said.

Another issue for tourism operators struggling to restart is the reluctance of employees to return to work, with many collecting up to $2,000 a month from the Canada Emergency Response Benefit. In its June 10 bulletin to members, the Tourism Industry Association of B.C. offers to recall employees.

The association also reports that only one in four of its member businesses see themselves as able to restart without B.C. moving to phase three of its reopening plan. That could come as early as mid-June.

tfletcher@blackpress.ca
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