What began for Eric and Kerri Langer as a quick trip to check on their New York property turned into a week-long struggle to reverse an unexpected quarantine order, all because their ArriveCAN app didn’t load when they tried to cross back home.
Their “ridiculous” problem ended with a “ridiculous” solution, the fully vaccinated Coburg, Ont., couple said. On Thursday they found themselves driving back into the U.S. and then re-entering Canada so they could re-show their proof of vaccination papers to an officer.
The second time around their papers were accepted and they were no longer required to quarantine.
“Look it, we had to fight stupid with stupid here,” Eric said while driving home afterwards.
The couple’s experience is one of many CBC News has reported on in recent months that demonstrate ongoing confusion and skepticism surrounding Canada’s land border rules.
Travellers are supposed to pre-register on the ArriveCAN application with their proof of vaccination before they enter Canada for non-essential travel. (CBC / Radio-Canada)
This summer, several travellers reported getting robocalls reminding them to quarantine even if they weren’t required to. One person was fined more than $6,000 when he forgot his email password at the border and was unable to retrieve his negative test results. And in October a Toronto man said he’d been sent other people’s test results and personal information even though he hadn’t travelled for months.
“In the court of law, we would have a right to defend ourselves,” Kerri said. “Here, you’re guilty and there is no way of proving your innocence.”
‘There’s no information. It’s crazy.’
The Langers entered the U.S. last weekend to visit their Lake Placid home for the first time since the pandemic began. They said they made sure to be well-versed on Canada’s travel rules and kept the trip under 72 hours so they wouldn’t be required to show a negative COVID-19 test result.
But when they pulled up to the Thousand Islands Border Crossing to return home Monday morning, the ArriveCAN app with their proof of vaccination wouldn’t load on Eric’s phone, he said. The officer refused to look at their printed documents and ordered they quarantine for two weeks.
As a teacher at a short-staffed elementary school, Kerri said taking that much time off work wasn’t an option. So, when they got home, Eric started making calls to elected officials, the Public Health Agency of Canada and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA).
“The resolution should have been somebody calls to verify that we are indeed vaccinated,” Eric said. “Boom. The quarantine is lifted. But there’s nobody. There’s no information. It’s crazy.”
After a few days of persistent phone calls, he said he reached a CBSA supervisor who advised that even though they were under a quarantine order, they were allowed to drive into the U.S. and back again — a rule the agency confirmed to CBC News. If they showed an officer the right documentation, the order would be lifted.
“I think the ridiculousness of today is that I couldn’t get in my car and drive to the [grocery store] but I could get into my car and drive across the border and that was OK,” Kerri said.
Kelly Sundberg, a professor at Mount Royal University who spent 15 years as an officer with the CBSA, said this case exemplifies the issues raised in the auditor general’s scathing report this week about the federal government’s handling of its border during the pandemic.
“The rules change. How they’re enforced changes. Interpretation of these rules is dependent on the officer’s location and all in all it really does nothing to safeguard or protect Canadians,” Sundberg said.
“What it does do is cause extreme frustration and understandable hard feelings.”
CBSA accepting in-person documents, minister says
Although the Langers aren’t sure why their second time around was a success, a couple of factors were at play this week that could provide an explanation.
Eric said when they were crossing back into Canada on Thursday they were also informed by an officer the ArriveCAN app was down and therefore printed documentation was acceptable regardless of the rules.
The Public Health Agency of Canada confirmed the service disruption will run until Tuesday as the app is undergoing a scheduled update.
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino rises during Question Period on December 9, 2021 in Ottawa. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)
Also, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino had faced questions from the Opposition a few days before, on Monday afternoon, in the House of Commons.
“Let us talk about the ArriveCAN app that is supposed to protect Canadians but is actually making things worse at the border,” said Conservative health critic Luc Berthold.
“People are being misinformed. No one is answering the telephone to help them. Seniors without smartphones cannot travel. We are hearing stories of mandatory quarantines for triple-vaccinated people.”
In response, Mendicino said he’d directed CBSA to accept in-person information at the borders as well as on the ArriveCAN app.
The CBSA told CBC News Friday night the ArriveCAN app remains mandatory for all land travellers, but they can now show a printed receipt at the border if they don’t have a smartphone or mobile data.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
