Point Roberts’ fire Chief is the latest voice calling for the Canada and U.S. governments to reopen the border in some form to Point Roberts property owners and dual citizens.
Christopher Carleton wrote a letter last week on behalf of the residents of Point Roberts – a community, he says is caught between a pandemic and the politics of two countries.
“Given the unique challenge of our geographical location and the growing toll this takes on all aspects of our community from its economic viability to our collective mental health, I ask that the U.S. and Canada take the unparalleled efforts to realize our community’s expanded predicament and help us forge ideas to safely reconcile our pressing needs for open transit through Canada, balanced with the demands of our current emergency state,” wrote Carleton. “The existing public health crisis is unprecedented in our time. We all understand that drastic measures have been required to ensure the safety of our respective citizenry. In many ways, our community is suffering disproportionately from the compounding impacts of the profound isolation now being experienced.”
Carleton points out that Point Roberts has been, to date, perhaps the safest community in the U.S. with respect to COVID-19.
He says that the fire department, in conjunction with their local clinic, has sponsored continuous testing with approximately half of their permanent residents tested.
“I am not currently aware of any positive cases within our community,” he said. “We intend to continue this efforts as long as may be necessary, as well as to aggressively pursue any and all public health measures made available to us to ensure that we maintain the safety of our community throughout this crisis.”
Carleton said Point Roberts is a place where U.S. and Canadian cultures and values intersect, interact and blend in ways that have allowed everyone to prosper.
“I ask that both governments recognize the unique circumstances we face as an integrated, trans-border community, and find a way for U.S., dual citizens and green card holders of Point Roberts to transit openly as needed to the United States mainland,” he said. “Canadians or others who legally own property in our community, and can prove this ownership, should also be granted access as appropriately required during this historic event to care for such property.”
In recent weeks, Tsawwassen resident Kevin McIntosh presented U.S. and Canadian government officials with a petition with more than 3,000 names in the hopes that Canadians with property in Point Roberts can soon cross the line to perform routine maintenance.
Many who signed the petition own cottages and worry that without regular maintenance they will fall into disrepair. They raise concerns over rats and raccoons causing damage to vacant buildings as well as the possibility of leaks and other issues. There are also worries about insurance not being valid if structures are unattended for months on end.
Many suggest that crossing the border to check on property should be deemed essential travel so long as those who cross only go to and from their properties.
Delta MP Carla Qualtrough previously told the Optimist she has “a ton of sympathy” for Canadians who can’t get to their cottages and boats, but isn’t sure when they’ll be able to cross the line again.
Qualtrough said she has been in talks with cabinet colleagues in Ottawa as well as people locally in an effort to find a solution that might suit the geographic anomaly, but has yet to come up with one.
“Unfortunately, I don’t see a world where we don’t treat the whole border the same,” she told the Optimist when asked about the unique circumstances in Point Roberts.
She said the best hope for those with property in Point Roberts might be a gradual reopening of the border by region or by type of visitor that could broaden the definition of essential travel.
