“This area is the only place on the Canada-US border where there is an international peace park where people from any country can cross, share the same space and be together,” she said. Laurie Trautman, director of the Border Policy Research Institute.
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Trautman runs a border study institute at Western Washington University in Bellingham. He remembers how in the early days of the pandemic, the unique, open status of Peace Arch Park became a paradise for people separated by closed borders. “They came here in large numbers and many of these people were unmarried couples who could not see each other because of border restrictions,” Troutman told Global News on Sunday. The story goes on under the ad But that did not last long as concerns about COVID-19 led to the closure of the Canadian side of the park.
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Two years later, with most of Canada vaccinated and most of the borders reopened, the Canadian side of the park is still closed. It turns out that the Canadian side is run by the provincial Department of the Environment, which told Global News that they intend to keep it closed indefinitely because they can not check the status of the vaccine or ensure that visitors meet the border entry requirements. Some find it confusing, as access to the park has nothing to do with actual transit to Canada and the ministry is not concerned about the vaccine status of people visiting any of its other parks. “It’s a mystery why access to the park and the opening of the park will have anything to do with Canadian entry requirements,” Trautman said. 4:00 COVID Trip: Canada temporarily removes random COVID tests COVID Trip: Canada temporarily removes random COVID tests Related News © 2022 Global News, part of Corus Entertainment Inc.
