Keep Canada-U.S. border closed, many Canadians say
Posted May 22, 2020 9:46 am.
Last Updated May 22, 2020 9:47 am.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — Many of us don’t want our international borders reopened just yet, and it seems we’d be okay with provincial travel restrictions to remain in place until at least the end of the year, too.
One in three people across the country says provincial borders should be closed for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new poll from the Angus Reid Institute.
Just one-in-five Canadians believes there should be free, unrestricted travel between provinces.
The poll also found more than 40 per cent of people in B.C. want to see the American border closed until at least the end of the year, if not longer.
Just 20 per cent of Canadians think the U.S. border should reopen when the current deadline for closure expires on June 21.
The border closure could be extended, as B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix has suggested.
The Angus Reid Institute’s findings show our political leanings impact our decision.
Past Conservative voters are far more likely than those who supported the Liberals or NDP in the last federal election to say that the border should be opened this summer.
And it seems many of us plan to stay close to home this summer.
More than 80 per cent of Canadians who live close to the U.S. border would definitely not or probably not take even a day trip south this summer if it reopened after June 21.
U.S. visitors spent $10 billion in Canada in 2018.
