Communities pay economic price in US-Canada border closure

POINT ROBERTS, Wash. — On a tiny peninsula of 5 quadrate miles successful the Pacific Northwest, rainy days are thing new.

It’s a gloom of a antithetic benignant that is engulfing those who unrecorded Point Roberts, Washington.

"No one's paying attraction to a damn happening successful Point Roberts, and that's wrong," said Brian Calder of the Point Roberts Chamber of Commerce.

The peninsula successful Washington authorities sits surrounded by h2o connected 3 sides and is separated from the remainder of America by the Canadian border.

It's ne'er been an contented until COVID-19 closed the onshore borderline to astir question past year.

"Our colonisation has gone from similar 1,200, which wasn't immense to statesman with, down to astir 800," Calder said.

We archetypal met Calder past year, when we reported connected what Point Roberts was going done with the borderline closure. There is nary car ferry, though determination is simply a writer airstrip connected the peninsula, but determination is nary power operation and nary regular flights.

So, what's changed since then?

"Nothing,” Calder said. “Nothing but lockdown and much punitive, much quality suffering, much economical devastation."

For a assemblage that usually relies connected a changeless watercourse of thousands of Canadian visitors doing time trips, the economical interaction from the borderline closure isn't hard to find.

"It's been devastating for each the restaurants connected the point," said Tamra Hansen, proprietor of the Saltwater Café.

The café closed due to the fact that determination simply wasn’t capable concern disposable without Canadians coming into town.

"I can't blasted the locals. They've supported maine arsenic overmuch arsenic they tin done this full pandemic,” Hansen said. “And I admit that. It's conscionable not enough."

Inside the Point Roberts International Marketplace, determination is much atrocious quality for the town's lone supermarket.

"Last week was our worst week ever successful the past of the store being here," said proprietor Ali Hayton. "The past 2 months person been really, truly hard. There person been days I looked astatine income and conscionable thought, 'I don't cognize however we're going to support doing this.'"

Hayton said they are holding retired anticipation the borderline reopening connected November 8 mightiness help.

Yet, it comes with its ain acceptable of issues, including however Canada volition inactive necessitate mandatory COVID-19 investigating for Canadians who sojourn and past instrumentality home.

"Nobody's going to bash a $150 trial to travel down and enactment state successful the car and bargain a gallon of milk," Hayton said.

People successful Point Roberts are hoping the Canadian authorities volition make a COVID-19 investigating exemption for their community, but truthful far, that hasn't happened. In the meantime, they accidental much American assistance from federal, authorities and section governments is needed.

"From time one, we've ever said, 'We don't privation help, we conscionable privation our customers back,'” Hayton said, “but astatine this point, we've got specified a immense spread to excavation retired of that, you know, we're going to instrumentality that assistance if it comes."

It’s a assemblage present waiting to spot if the tide whitethorn commencement to crook there.