A Manitoba woman says news about the loosening of coronavirus restrictions on both sides of the Canada/U.S. border has added to her frustration with the whole pandemic.
Elaine Wishart, from Carman, Man., told 680 CJOB that her partner of three years lives and works in Minneapolis, and due to travel restrictions, he’s unable to come to Canada and visit her and vice versa.
Wishart said they’ve visited each other in person twice a month over their long-distance relationship, but the travel ban has kept them apart — even at a time when things are opening up for married couples and other family relations.
“It’s been incredibly difficult for both of us, and when restrictions were altered slightly, we were quite hopeful, but then we heard it didn’t include long-term partners and committed couples,” she said.
“It’s a bit of a kicker, really.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Monday that the government will implement a “limited exemption” at the Canada-U.S. border that will allow immediate family members of citizens or permanent residents to enter the country.
“This is an incredibly difficult time to be apart from a spouse, a child or mom or dad. We hear that,” Trudeau told reporters Monday.
“That’s why we are bringing in a limited exemption to allow immediate family members of citizens or permanent residents to come to Canada.”
However, even under the new exemptions it still leaves many couples unable to cross the border.
Part of the problem, she said, is the formal status of their relationship. She and her partner aren’t married, and they legally can’t be considered common-law, as they live in different countries, so they’re in a legal grey area.
“We need the recognition that it’s not just a fly-by-night relationship,” she said.
Canada defines immediate family members as spouses, common-law partners, dependent children and their children, parents and legal guardians — which leaves Wishart and her partner on the outside looking in.
Couple wants quarantine restriction lifted for families
While the government has loosened some travel restrictions to allow some families to cross, the 14-day quarantine is still required, which has been a big roadblock for some couples.
“Nothing changed for us. We need the quarantine lifted,” Jillian Trudel told Global News.
Trudel lives in Phoenix, AZ and her husband, Stephen, and her stepson live in Winnipeg. The two got married in 2016 and have been flying back and forth monthly their entire marriage.
“We are literally being separated by borders right now,” she said. “Today is day 83. Mar. 19 was the day we said goodbye at the airport.”
According to the Canada Border Services Agency, immediate family members are permitted to cross the border, provided they’ll be staying with family on the northern side of the border for at least 15 days, and don’t have any symptoms of COVID-19.
“It’s the quarantine that has stopped us,” Jillian Trudel said. “To drop everything and leave life for 15 days is virtually impossible.”
Both have homes, jobs, family commitments and pets that would make a two week quarantine extremely difficult.
“It’s really difficult,” Stephen said. “Just imagine for a second not being with your husband or wife or child and being forcibly separated, especially during a pandemic.”
The two belong to Facebook group of Canadian/American couples who have been lobbying the government to make changes to allow them to see their family members and loved ones without strict restrictions.
“We just think a 14-day blanket quarantine is basically barring 80 to 90 per cent of the couples that are forcibly separated by this,” Stephen said.
The group is asking for Ottawa to deem families and relationships and “essential” so they can have the same rights as essential workers when it comes to crossing the border.
“We want to be essential in order to cross (the border),” Jillian said. “We would come across, take a COVID-19 test, quarantine for two days while the results come back and upon clearance, let us out of quarantine like essential workers.”
Stephen said he and his wife are both willing to pay for the test each time.
“We’re not talking about opening the floodgates with people coming back and forth across the border,” he said. “We want to keep everyone safe and we’re willing to (pay for the test), but just do something meaningful that could reunify families.”
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