Canada Cracks Down On Americans Sneaking In: Family Booted, Fined

TOPLINE

Canada—which announced efforts in July to crack down on Americans flouting pandemic travel restrictions—caught and fined an American family holidaying in Vancouver when they were supposed to be just passing through from Alaska, Global News reported Saturday.

KEY FACTS

Crucial quote 

“This is not a game, and we have been very clear that Americans have been told that they have to follow these rules,” Global News quoted Farnworth as saying, adding that “it’s unfortunate that you get these individuals who want to ruin it for everyone else and endanger other people.”

Key background

The U.S. and Canada first blocked most nonessential travel through their shared border in March, and have continuously extended the restrictions throughout the pandemic. Since July, Americans are still permitted to go through Canada in transit between Alaska and the rest of the U.S., but can only enter through five border crossings, take the shortest route and are only allowed to stop along the way in Canada for necessities, like to sleep, eat or refill their fuel tank, according to Global News. 

Tangent

In July, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took a rare shot at President Donald Trump and the U.S. when he told reporters Canada was “able to control the virus better than many of our allies, particularly including our neighbor,” a thinly-veiled reference to America’s surging coronavirus cases. “Canadians did their part and followed public health instructions,” Trudeau added. On Saturday, Canada had counted 133,433 cases since the beginning of the pandemic compared to the more than 6.2 million infections detected in the U.S. according to a Johns Hopkins University tally.

Further reading

American family found abusing ‘Alaska loophole’ kicked out of B.C.: minister (Global News)

Coronavirus: Feds crack down on Americans using ‘Alaska loophole’ to enter Canada (Global News)