A local MP wants the government to consider letting workers who cross into the U.S. get protection from COVID-19.
In a letter sent to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Public Safety Minister Bill Blair on Thursday, Windsor West MP Brian Masse asked for a vaccination program for cross-border workers between Ontario and the states of Michigan and New York.
This program is similar to one announced this week between the Manitoba government and the state of North Dakota.
Masse pointed out both the financial and emotional toll the pandemic has taken on workers and families since the border was closed to non-essential traffic when the pandemic was first declared in March 2020.
"In communities such as Windsor-Detroit, the integration of the region is not only of the economy but of families," wrote Masse. "Additionally, thousands of people cross the border daily during the pandemic who work Michigan as healthcare workers, and in essential services such as power systems, railways, truck transport, ferries, aircrews and our manufacturing supply chains."
Masse's riding includes the four border crossings into Michigan, the Ambassador Bridge, the Windsor-Detroit Tunnel, the Detroit-Windsor truck ferry, and the freight railway tunnel. Masse said the commerce going back and forth via these crossings is about $1 billion a day.
According to NBC News, U.S. President Joe Biden announced this week that 200-million Americans have gotten a COVID-19 vaccine, and his administration is considering supplying Canada and other countries with surplus vaccines.
Masse, who serves as the NDP's Innovation, Science, and Economic Development Critic, is hopeful that the pledge comes through.
"The Canadian public has raised the valid issue of when they can be vaccinated and if border communities can be assisted by the U.S. administration," wrote Masse. "Additionally, a further inquiry will be whether the U.S. administration will help Canadians get vaccinated after their population has been, accelerating our own timeline. Both concerns need to be addressed in a comprehensive way."
Masse has also called for the creation of a task force to examine a border-reopening plan. The task force would consist of business owners, labour leaders, and elected representatives on both sides of the border. The Canadian Consulate in Detroit would be used as a focal point.