A petition calling for the re-opening of the Nova Scotia-New Brunswick border has been gaining steam as the premiers of the Atlantic provinces make noises about the potential to do just that.
1115 people have signed the petition as of early Tuesday morning. Petition creator Beth Scammell says she lives 500 metres from the border in Aulac, New Brunswick. Her work, as well as boyfriend and family are in Nova Scotia. But even though her workplace is within blocks of her boyfriend, border rules prevent her from seeing him.
Hear Beth Scammell on Tantramar Report, here:
Scammell is calling on people to put pressure on the premiers to reopen the border as soon as possible.
She says residents of Cumberland and Westmorland Counties have suffered financially, mentally, and emotionally from the border restrictions. And, she points out, the differences in rules on either side of the border present another layer to the challenges.
“Everything is changing all the time for what we’re allowed to do,” says Scammell. “So this has been a huge roller coaster for myself, and everyone around me is saying the same thing. COVID has affected us hugely.”
Scammell started her petition nearly two weeks ago, and then recently it picked up steam. “It was really just a lot of frustration and feeling that we weren’t being heard,” says Scammell. “And hearing from a lot of friends and co-workers that they were frustrated as well. I just got inspired to do a petition where we could put all of our voices together in one place.”
Scammell says she didn’t object to border restrictions at other points in the pandemic, even though they still affected her significantly. “We were okay with public health measures and closing the border and abiding by those,” she says. “But right now, it’s gotten to a point where I think a lot of us are saying, why now? Why the continued closure? We’re looking at a bigger picture and saying this needs to end.”
Last week, Premier Blaine Higgs said he would be meeting with the other Atlantic premiers via conference call sometime this week to discuss potential bubble re-opening, offering up late-April as a date for the long awaited change.
New Brunswick left the Atlantic Bubble on November 26, 2020. Premier Higgs said at the time that officials understood there was a lot of essential travel across the Nova Scotia border, and that measures would not impact that essential travel activity.
Nova Scotia then followed suit on January 9, 2021, and now travellers without exemptions going in either direction across the border are required to self-isolate for 14 days.
A series of changes to New Brunswick’s exemption rules in January caused confusion for some. Currently, regular work and school commuters are exempt from self-isolation requirements as long as they complete weekly COVID-19 tests. But those same people are not permitted to make trips for any other purpose such as shopping or visiting family.
One group that has been left out of exemptions altogether are those caring for older adults. While exemptions are in place for child custody and daycare arrangements, people who care for parents across the border are still required to isolate for 14 days after crossing.
Scammel’s petition is online at change.org.
