Experts are wondering if it’s time for Canada to take a fresh approach to its relationship with the United States.
Journalist and author Edward Alden, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, says there’s more going on at the Canada-U.S. border than just bureaucratic foot-dragging.
Alden says the ongoing ban on recreational travel from Canada and Mexico may reflect a broader presidential doctrine aimed at placating nationalist sentiment inside the U.S.
The northern border barely got a mention Monday when the U.S. announced plans to ease travel restrictions on a number of other countries, including the United Kingdom, the European Union, China and India, among others.
And it hasn’t come up today during national security committee hearings on Capitol Hill, even though Homeland Security Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas is among the marquee witnesses.
Those hearings have been far more focused on the crisis at the southern border, where tens of thousands of migrants — many from earthquake-ravaged Haiti — have been massing in hopes of seeking asylum in the U.S.