A B.C. mayor said shutting provincial borders might be an extreme answer to the issue of continued non-essential travel, as B.C.’s premier revealed this week he would be seeking legal advice on keeping visitors out of the province.
The town of Golden sees millions of tourists pass through and stay each year, but COVID-19 has led to a 40 per cent drop in tourism numbers over the past year.
The town’s mayor, Ron Oszust, said that while everyone’s definition of essential travel might be different, he’s still seeing a “fair” number of visitors even though Canadians have been given a clear message: stay home.
“I would not say their travel has always been essential but they’ve been respectful of the situation and been cautious and careful, but the safest thing to do is as we’re being asked to on an ongoing basis: essential travel only and that’s in both of our provinces,” he said, referring to Alberta. “I don’t see taking a visit for skiing, for snowmobiling, for recreational purposes as essential travel.”
Oszust said he wonders if B.C. Premier John Horgan has the ability to enact such a restriction under Canadian law.
“Then it comes down to who is going to enforce it? And how do we police that?” he said. “We need to go back and say, essential travel is essential travel. We can rationalize and justify mental health as a reason to potentially spread a virus, but let’s really stop for a moment to think about it and do the right thing.”
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