Advertisement

France opened border to Canadian tourists. It now wants Canada to reciprocate

Click to play video: '‘We’re not there yet’: Prime Minister on reopening of Canada-U.S. border and foreign visitor guidelines'
‘We’re not there yet’: Prime Minister on reopening of Canada-U.S. border and foreign visitor guidelines
WATCH: Prime Minister on reopening of Canada-U.S. border and foreign visitor guidelines – Jul 8, 2021

France, which has opened its borders to Canadian tourists, is eager to see Canada reopen to the French.

The Canadian border remains closed to foreigners, with a few exceptions, and will be until at least July 21. Ottawa has extended the closure, month after month, since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020.

At the French embassy in Ottawa Tuesday the representative of President Emmanuel Macron’s government argued the Canadian border should be reopened to the French as soon as possible.

“The borders will have to be reopened relatively quickly now for us to put Canada back on our travel plans,” Ambassador Kareen Rispal said. “If not, it’s true that French ministers will go to the countries where they can go.”

Story continues below advertisement

Otherwise, the relationship between the two countries will suffer, she warned.

“The consequence of the border closure is that there are no more visits,” Rispal said. “There are no more ministers. There are no more parliamentarians. There are no more manufacturing visits. There are no more visits by artists — relationships need to be worked on every day, to nourish them.”

Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.

Get daily National news

Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.
By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

France permits Canadians who can prove they are fully vaccinated, or who submit a recent negative COVID-19 test and who attest to not having COVID-19 symptoms, to enter its territory.

Click to play video: 'COVID-19: EU countries clear plan to ease cross-border tourism over summer'
COVID-19: EU countries clear plan to ease cross-border tourism over summer

“We are a green country,” she said, referring to the colour system used by France to designate countries where the novel coronavirus is under control.

“Canada is a green country. We would be very happy if the French could return to Canada without constraints other than being doubly vaccinated, taking tests, etc. We aren’t asking to return to Canada in a haphazard way.”

Story continues below advertisement

Rispal said she will be watching what the Canadian government does on July 21.

Every time the border issue has come up during Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s recent news conferences, he has said he understands everyone’s impatience but has noted, again and again, that the pandemic isn’t over.

The first loosening of the border restrictions came on July 5, when fully vaccinated Canadians were no longer required to quarantine on their return to the country _ a measure that applied to everyone who already had the right to enter Canada, such as those with student visas.

Trudeau has promised to relax border restrictions further “in the coming weeks,” and has added he won’t open the door “before the right moment” to unvaccinated foreigners.

On Monday, Macron announced that starting in August, proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 PCR test will be required to enter restaurants, go to concerts or take the train in France. For Canadian tourists, paper proof of vaccination will be sufficient, according to the ambassador.

Sponsored content

AdChoices