Point Roberts residents petition to cross Canadian border
Posted June 4, 2020 12:10 pm.
POINT ROBERTS (NEWS 1130) — Some frustrated people living in Point Roberts, Wash. have launched a petition for an exception to cross the border, but only so that they can travel to the mainland U.S.
Organizer John Beals writes on change.org that people in Point Roberts just want to drive through Canada to the crossing by Blaine and would not get out of their cars on the way, meaning there would be no risk to Canadians.
He says this should be considered essential travel since some household goods and groceries, as well as certain vehicle and home repairs, are currently unavailable to them.
Beals adds the only option to leave Point Roberts, for those who don’t own a boat, is taking a $270 round trip flight that runs just once a week.
About 1,300 people live in Point Roberts. The petition had more than 1,600 signatures as of Thursday morning.
RELATED: Canada-U.S. border closure extended to June 21 amid coronavirus crisis
“The full-time residents of Point Roberts, Wash. are a very special group regarding the containment of the coronavirus,” says the petition.” At this time, there are no known cases of COVID-19 in any of the 1,314 full-time residents, and over 300 people have been tested.”
Point Roberts Fire Chief Christopher Carleton said last month that businesses there are feeling the effect of the border staying closed.
Canada-U.S. border restrictions have been extended by at least another month amid the COVID-19 pandemic to June 21.
Crossings have been closed to all non-essential travel since Mar. 21. Truck drivers, Canadians and Americans who cross the border for essential work or other urgent reasons, as well as some others are exempt from the closure.
-with files from Hana Mae Nassar and Cormac Mac Sweeny
