BC Canada border restrictions

[DavidGraves]

Do any neighbors to the north have any sense of the current rules regulating my driving up to eastern BC to retrieve a canvas canoe we are having restored ?

I know I can look up the rules for passage at the border....but more of what I am asking you is the reality of life lately.

The fellow that has had my Old Town canvas canoe for nearly three years insists that provincial rules prohibit my retrieving it.

He is located in Grand Forks, BC

I wonder if he is just leaning on "the rules" to procrastinate a little further in completing the work.

I hope you all are having as best summer as can be expected.

David Graves

 

[MarkBC]

Probably best to look it up directly... But something I'm waiting for from a Canadian manufacturer will have to be delivered across the border to the USA by them -- i.e., I can't go get it myself -- because only commercial traffic is permitted across the border currently...they tell me.

 

[DavidGraves]

Thanks Mark

So the makers of a new product told you that ?

That's helpful to know.

David Graves

 

[Vic Harder]

Borders are still closed.

 

[DavidGraves]

Thanks Vic

Both directions ?

David

 

[Vic Harder]

closed enough that even us Alberta folks don't choose to wander west into BC

\https://www.nationalobserver.com/2020/05/15/news/bc-prepares-phase-2-reopening-us-border-remains-shut

 

[DavidGraves]

Thanks for that.

 

[Atlin]

Yes, I'm waiting for the border to open so we can get north to our cabin. Currently closed to all but essential traffic until June 21, but (I think) most likely will continue to be closed beyond that date. Frustrating, but understandable given the relative difference in virus cases and response between the US and Canada.

 

[Vic Harder]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/rcmp-americans-banff-alaska-1.5621452

 

[DavidGraves]

Thanks Vic

We have actually wondered about the boat repair guy bringing our canoe 8 miles to the small boarder crossing and passing it to us on the other side.

Not sure that would be acceptable to the authorities on either side.

There is a creek parralel to this road system ....maybe he should set it adrift upstream on his side....small park just downstream .

David

 

[smlobx]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/rcmp-americans-banff-alaska-1.5621452

Thanks for the article Vic. It is astounding reading the comments and the vitriolic hatred some Cnandians apparently have for their neighbor to the South...Really pathetic.

I drove from Virginia to Alaska at the beginning of the month legally. I am about to start a brief consulting project near Fairbanks so we had the necessary paperwork to get into Canada. We crossed at Sweet Water Montana as it was the shortest distance to get across Canada. We drove up to Calgary and got on the Alcan.

The only Covid issues we had in crossing Alberta, B.C. and the Yukon was that we were stopped at the Yukon border and told we had 24 hours to get into Alaska. We had to verify we had enough food and camping capabilities (we took the F-350 with the Hallmark camper) to only stop for fuel which we were happy to comply with. Even though it took us 26 hours but there was no one at the AK/Yukon border to verify our crossing.

A couple of observations... First no one at the border was wearing any masks etc. The people we saw were generally going about their business and this was particularly true in Calgary. Of all the cities we drove through from Virginia to Alaska, Calgary had the most traffic and every shopping center we drove by was full of cars...so much for social distancing... Once we got passed Calgary everything appeared relatively normal with the exception that many of the Visitor Centers and museums were closed. Restaurants were open (but we didn’t go in to eat) and people were generally happy to talk when we were fueling up. We hope that they’ll be open when we return in August. We specifically did not drive through Banff and Jasper as there are very few places to camp there that are not part of their national park system and we didn’t want to take any chances..

How both our governments can think that camping in wide open spaces can be an issue is beyond me...but that’s another conversation for another time....

 

[DavidGraves]

Glad you made your trip and sounds like there was a silver lining of light traffic in some areas.

The whole Pandemic closure issue, politics aside, raises larger questions about over crowding generaly in travel prone areas.

Here on the north Oregon coast, there have been some terrific bursts of "recreation" at seaside locations with attendant traffic issues, (three weekends and three fatalities) despite suggested guidelines from local and state authorities.

Hard to say what the answers are but at some point folks are gonna have to stop arguing and try to work toward the common good.

Rumor is that we did that during the Great Depression and WWII.

David Graves