New Brunswick will no longer be included in Nova Scotia’s Atlantic Bubble.
Today (June 23) was intended to be the grand reopening of the Atlantic Bubble, which would have allowed New Brunswickers to travel to Nova Scotia, PEI, and Newfoundland without self-isolating.
Nova Scotia Premier Iain Rankin announced that New Brunswickers are no longer allowed to cross the NB-NS border without self-isolating, since all vaccinated Canadians are now permitted to travel in and out of New Brunswick.
“We can’t take the same level of risk that New Brunswick is prepared to take right now,” said Rankin. He and Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Robert Strang mentioned the predominance of the Delta variant in other Canadian provinces as a cause for concern.
Starting today, New Brunswickers will have to undergo modified isolation once they arrive in Nova Scotia.
NO HEADS UP FOR HIGGS
Rankin did not alert New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs of this change before he announced it.
“I tried to get ahold of New Brunswick officials last week… Myself and other premiers in the Atlantic were supposed to have a call last week, and that never happened. We had to modify our isolation requirements based on their decision to open up to the rest of Canada.”
Premier Higgs has not yet released a public statement in regards to the decision.
This is not the first time the two premiers have clashed over border regulations. Just last Friday, Rankin said that Higgs never mentioned New Brunswick’s plan to reopen to the rest of vaccinated Canada, while Higgs insisted that he did.
New Brunswick’s “Path to Green” plan was originally published on May 27, 2021, which estimated the province would allow vaccinated Canadian travelers on July 1st.
TRANSCANADA HIGHWAY BLOCKADE UNDERWAY
The decision was met with outrage from Cumberland MLA Elizabeth Smith-McCrossin, who demanded that Premier Rankin undo the decision or she would organize a blockade on the TransCanada highway starting at 4PM (on June 22).
“Premier Rankin just slapped the people in Cumberland and the people of New Brunswick in the face,” said Smith-McCrossin in a live Facebook video.
When asked about Smith-McCrossin’s demands, Premier Rankin said the rule change is “regrettable…but that’s needed right now.”
At approximately 6pm on Tuesday, CHMA’S Erica Butler spoke to some of the people starting to gather alongside the Missaguash River which borders New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Here are some of those voices:
NS ISOLATION REQUIREMENTS MORE STRICT THAN PEI
Nova Scotia’s isolation requirements for New Brunswickers are now more strict than Prince Edward Island’s.
The isolation requirements for entering Nova Scotia depend on when the person was vaccinated, and with how many doses. All doses must have been received at least two weeks before making the drive to Nova Scotia. Testing is required, and they cannot be rapid tests.
New Brunswickers who received two doses of vaccine still need to self-isolate. They will be released from self-isolation once they receive a negative test result.
People with just one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine have to isolate for at least seven days, possibly more, and will be released after two negative tests spread out over the course of the week.
Anyone who hasn’t been vaccinated at all must isolate for the full 14 days and undergo testing at the start and end of their isolation. Anyone who enters Nova Scotia within 14 days of their first dose will be considered unvaccinated.
Meanwhile, on Prince Edward Island, isolation requirements are being lifted for people from the Atlantic provinces who have been vaccinated. People approved for existing streams of travel to the island may already get exempted from isolation, and as of June 27 the Island will no longer mandate isolation for vaccinated Atlantic Canadians, regardless of the reason for travel. All Atlantic Canadians will still be subject to testing at the border, but do not need to isolate to await results.
