Blue Water Bridge May 2017 (BlackburnNews.com photo by Dave Dentinger)Blue Water Bridge May 2017 (BlackburnNews.com photo by Dave Dentinger)
Sarnia

Canada-US border closure extended

The Blue Water Bridge and other Canada-U.S. border crossings will remain mostly closed for at least another month.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Tuesday that the closure will continue until July 21.

Crossings have been limited to essential workers and trade since March 21 to try to limit the spread of COVID-19 between the two countries.

Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley has a conference call planned with mayors from other border cities on Thursday.

He said they'll be discussing the impacts the closure has had and the challenges moving forward.

"Every border city is different," he said. "Look at Windsor, they're still in Stage One. Windsor has taken a huge hit beyond Sarnia because a lot of their economy was based on the casino and that is now gone as a revenue source. While we've lost a bit of money, it's not huge for us in the scheme of things."

Mayor Bradley said there will be challenges when the restrictions are eventually lifted.

"What are you going to do in your communities when you've got literally thousands of people coming over and how are you going to deal with the issues?" he said. "They don't know our rules, and they don't know all of the things that the province has brought forward. I think that's going to be a very difficult challenge for all of the border cities to deal with. When American visitors return, they have no knowledge about distance -- they have some of that in some states -- and all of our other rules."

The border restrictions have been extended twice already, for 30 days at a time.

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