BirdTalk Dear Bird Talk, I just was informed today that the border is closed once again until June 21 [Now it has been extended again until July 21]. My wife and I recently crossed the border into Canada by land after a two-week visit to our home in Sun Lakes, Arizona. We had been away for more than 13 months and had to go to check our property, get our air-conditioners, car and water filter serviced. We needed to confirm that our U.S. investment was OK. While in Arizona, we easily obtained our second Pfizer vaccine and had our mandatory COVID test within 72 hours of return to Canada. All they required was a B.C. driver’s licence to confirm our identity. Everything was incredibly well-organized and so easy to do. We flew to Bellingham, Washington and took a cab to the border for $60 plus tip. Everyone at the border was super nice and we had our next COVID test there, followed by a further test on day eight of quarantine at home. We did this to avoid an expensive three-day stay in a Vancouver hotel, which we believe is unsafe and poorly organized, according to many reports that we have read. Once home, the bureaucracy is interesting. A daily e-mail check-in with ArriveCan, a phone call on day two and a front-door visit on day eight to ensure that we were not breaking the rules. The day eight check-in for the final COVID19 test took 2 ½ hours to connect with the Ontario nurse, who was also very pleasant. As our test was on a Friday, Purolator could not pick up our swabs until the following Monday − on day 11. Having had two vaccines and a total of four negative COVID tests, we are clearly low risk, taking the same precautions in Arizona that we have in B.C. since March 2020. Most people were wearing masks in the stores there. The border restrictions for twice-vaccinated Canadians are ridiculous. The hotel requirement makes little sense. This was set up as a deterrent to travel. The system is both expensive and cumbersome. Users who don’t speak English or French would have a difficult time negotiating it. People flying within Canada do not have to do any of this. The other interesting observation is the reaction of a few so-called friends who expressed righteous indignation and anger at what we had done. One has ghosted us from social media permanently. The pandemic has done strange things to people. John Barclay Delta, BC Ed.: Your experience was very close to our own, John.Wonderful people at every contact, but we were actually called twice per day. My wife thinks that the many, many people we interacted with could better serve our province and country by giving vaccinations instead. Dear Bird Talk, To all those who didn’t heed the directions of the Canadian government and left the country anyway − you were warned that it is a changing environment and that rules could change when you are away, as the pandemic changes. The spring Bird Talk only had letters from the group that are complaining about the quarantine and testing requirements. Well, most of us who stayed home do not agree with your view. The biggest thing I would like to object to is that the editor of CSANews has such an unbalanced view. Before you offer DeSantis the medal of freedom, maybe you should make sure that everyone knows that Florida has 1.5 times the population of Ontario and have had 2.275 MILLIONCOVID cases and deaths of about 36,000. Compare that to Ontario’s andmaybe our lockdown and masks weren’t such a bad idea after all. Do you really think that we need you all arriving back in Ontario with numbers like these and we just say welcome home? Also, DeSantis is against vaccine passports for cruise industry as another example of his “wonderful” policies. And don’t get me started on him making sure that his friend’s Florida development got special treatment for receiving vaccines – oh, and Publix getting the distribution rights for vaccines, despite the distance from the poor areas of Florida − meaning that poor, black Floridians have hardship to get a vaccine. (To take a dog to the U.S. you need proof of a rabies vaccine). Who then can object to a vaccine passport for humans? I hope to go to Florida for the winter of 2022, but I won’t be jumping on the DeSantis for sainthood bandwagon. Jane Gibson Toronto, ON Ed.: We have had numerous e-mails that are very similar to Ms. Gibson’s, with hundreds of different “Facts” and I expect that any snowbird who stayed home would agree with her. The only difference between us, really, is the definition of “essential” travel. It was essential that I go to the U.S. for dozens and dozens of reasons. Those who travelled have been vilified, unjustly in my opinion. I believe that they bring back a safer presence − having mostly had both vaccination shots in the U.S. and most having had three (3) negative COVID-19 tests immediately on arrival. Canadians who stayed home are still struggling to get the first shot in many cases. And we are a danger to the people who stayed home? I will let you decide. CSANews | SUMMER 2021 | 11
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