(CNN) – There were no bricks and mortar, no fence, no cement, no cross-border diplomatic skirmishes, just two government orders, and that was enough to close the world’s longest outer border to visitors.
When the United States and Canada agreed in March to close the border to mitigate the spread of coronavirus, no one predicted it would be closed for so long, there is still no express date for its reopening, the industry has continued between countries.
“There is definitely a lack of proximity, but I can tell you that no one I’ve spoken to here needs the border to open soon. You U. S. citizens are missing, but we are opening the border comfortably,” Bernadette Clement said. Mayor of Cornwall, Ontario, in an interview with CNN.
From east to west for thousands of miles, in communities on both sides of the national division, the closure of the border redefines only economic relations, but also non-public life, in a way that no one expected.
“This is going to have a long-term effect on our communities, economically, socially, and everything that’s really vital to us,” said Tim Currier, mayor of Massena, New York, a “sister” network in Cornwall, just a few miles across the border from the San Lorenzo River.
Not anymore. The border is closed for all trips that are considered “non-essential” or discretionary and that come with all recreational and touristic.
Statistics Canada recently reported that cross-border cars have decreased by approximately 95% on both sides of the border.
For decades in these border communities, others have crossed the border back and forth every day to attend a school or educational program, spend buying groceries in exchange for a bargain, enjoying the yearning for a meal at a favorite place to eat, or a last dinner. minute to the casino to play slot machines.
In a way, border closure has been a victim of its own success. Essential products and continued to cross the border successfully and easily, with the chains of origin virtually intact. Canada and the United States have one of the most important industrial relations in the world. , trading around $1. 9 billion each day.
Although regulations also apply in both countries, economic pain has not been distributed lightly over the Cornwall-Massena ditch.
“There is no doubt about the economic impact. We have small businesses that have reopened, we have some that will never reopen because they rely heavily on Canadian traffic,” Mayor Currier said in a phone interview with CNN.
Mayor Clement says Cornwall is feeling the economic loss of American customers, but with a larger, more dynamic economy, the damage has been equally severe.
And as infection rates rise in the United States, diverging from Canada’s flattened pandemic curve, the mere fact of seeing cars with U. S. plates alarmed many Canadians.
“It’s hard to keep everyone calm because the citizens took note of the plates, yes,” Clement said.
Whether in Walmart’s parking lot in Cornwall or in the downtown shopping district, many citizens told CNN that the border should remain closed for months, given the high infection rate in the United States.
A July survey through Ipsos showed that more than 8 out of ten Canadians closed the border until at least the end of the year.
“The challenge for us, being right at the border, is that we see the increase in cases in the United States as a whole. Some states have more cases than the rest of Canada. We have to be careful with that,” Grand Chief Abram Benedict of the Akwesasne Mohawk Council said in an interview with CNN.
The Akwesasne Mohawk crosses the borders of the United States and Canada and its 13,000 citizens occupy an exclusive position. They retained their right to travel between the two countries even in this pandemic.
By presenting your ID cards to prove your Indian status, you can cross the border for must-have trips to the United States or Canada for purchases, bank transactions, consulting a doctor, or consulting the circle of family members.
They are also exempt from a two-week quarantine when they enter Canada.
Benedict says this means that those with New York State plates can be noticed in and around Cornwall. Most Canadian citizens now perceive that they have the right to be there, but Benedict says his network has a greater duty to keep everyone safe.
The curfew at night in Akwesasne is still in force with an outdoor ban within 50 miles. Benedict adds that many members of his network wore masks long before it became mandatory in Cornwall.
In fact, new infections are low at either border, however, the longer the border remains closed, the greater the economic impact.
“I have to make up for a 40% vacuum in my business,” Todd Papineau, general manager of Akwesasne Mohawk Casino Resort, said in a phone interview with CNN, saying he doesn’t expect Canadians to return in months.
Papineau says a maximum of his 750 workers have been on leave for about five months, and is looking to bring back some of them for a proposed reopening later this month, depending only on local US customers. But it’s not the first time
“The worst situation is that he will be with us next year, that’s what I believe; I hope I’m wrong,” Papineau said.
At Philos Restaurant in Cornwall, American consumers were a staple food for the Greek pizzeria and family circle. After five months, the place to eat has just reopened to local consumers.
On a recent Friday afternoon, only one table was served in a dining room that can serve more than a hundred guests. The prolonged closure of the border means that companies with U. S. consumers face a drop in activity in the coming months.
“It’s more complicated for businesses. We have fewer customers, and that’s a big replacement for the other people who work in those corporations because they don’t know what to expect in the future,” said Nancy Page, a manager who has painted on-site to eat for nearly 20 years.
Some border communities, specifically in the United States, are pushing to move towards the opening of the border, what they call a prudent, slow and thoughtful process, following the recommendation of public fitness experts.
“I respect Canada’s point of view, but what’s happening in Florida doesn’t happen in New York, and New Yorkers are taking vital steps to reduce the likelihood and chances of further infections,” Currier said.
Many in Canada’s business network agree that Canada deserves to double the number of immediate evidence and that a two-week quarantine in the coming months is unsustainable and will have a disproportionate effect on recreation and hospitality.
“Some sectors have been affected and their own lifestyle is at stake,” says Goldy Hyder, president and CEO of the Canadian Business Council, adding, “I think we want a plan to achieve responsible reopening. “