Some families with loved ones in Canada and the United States are ecstatic about Ottawa’s decision to lift border restrictions, since they will be able to reunite. But beneath the joy there is deep frustration that has built up over the past years and the sentiment that the battle is only half-won, as the U.S. border is still technically closed to unvaccinated foreigners.
“I’m in tears right now as I type this, as I’m realizing I will actually be able to hug my husband for the first time in 2 years,” said Vera Post in an email to The Epoch Times. “This should have never happened.”
‘US Needs to Follow Suit’
Christine Dougherty is a U.S. citizen and Canadian permanent resident living in Ontario across from Buffalo in New York.
As a U.S. citizen, she could always enter her country without issue, but coming back was problematic with the 14-day quarantine rule. Dougherty says she missed births and deaths in her bi-national family.
“As a U.S. citizen, I’m thrilled, but I will not forget the families that are still separated as I know how it feels to be forgotten,” she says.
She now has plans to visit her sister in Buffalo as soon as the restrictions are lifted on Oct. 1
“I’m sure I will cry when I cross the Peace Bridge,” says Dougherty, who will now be able to meet her great niece who is almost 2 years old and whom she has never met.
‘Mixed Feelings’
“Today’s announcement brings mixed feelings of relief and frustration for our family,” says Eric Chambers of B.C., in reference to the government’s Sept. 26 announcement about lifting restrictions.He hopes that lawsuits launched against the travel mandates will still be allowed to go forward so that there is some “accountability for the harm that these restrictions have caused to so many families.”
The applicants challenging the mandate point to the federal government saying the measure was only being “suspended” and said they want the court to rule on whether it violated charter rights.
Due to U.S. border rules, the Chambers family won’t be able to cross south, but he says some relatives and good friends will now be able to visit him and his family in Canada.
“Canadian/American families could never have anticipated being separated this way, and for this long,” he wrote in an email.
‘Bi-National Families Were Abandoned’
Marcella Picone of Buffalo, New York, is a U.S. citizen and her fiancé in Canada is a permanent resident with whom she has two children.“I am elated that Canada has finally went pre-pandemic and has eliminated a discriminatory, unjust app,” says Picone, alluding to the mandatory ArriveCan system for entering the country.
“There is so much heartache, and bi-national families were abandoned and forgotten by both the U.S. and Canadian governments.”
While she has been able to cross into Canada in the past months, her fiancé hasn’t been able to visit the United States, hence their situation hasn’t changed. Unvaccinated U.S. citizens can enter their own country, but unvaccinated foreigners cannot.
Picone has been advocating for the lifting of restrictions in both countries and manages social media support groups for bi-national families. She says she also worked with the office of Congressman Chris Jacobs to deal with border restrictions.
“Bi-national families saw the freedom to connect and reunite with immediate and extended family suppressed during the pandemic, a freedom that should have not been forfeited and should never again be in the hands of an overbearing government,” Picone said.
