4 ms·

Reading between the lines I get the feeling we can't close the border and we're all in it together. There are towns where the border runs through the middle of

by wolco 7y ago

Reading between the lines I get the feeling we can't close the border and we're all in it together. There are towns where the border runs through the middle of town. Indian tribes that run through both. It would be extremely difficult to close the entire border.

munk-a 7y ago
As someone who lived in Vermont and who has been on the Akwesasne reservation - yea, sure, but there still is a border. It isn't like folks in the grey zone can constantly wander across willy-nilly penalty free. There certainly are places where you can just walk across a border in northern Vermont, and it's illegal to do so - so not many folks will cross the border. Remember, we're not at walking-dead levels of societal collapse, we can still generally assume people are following orders given by governments, so just saying the border is closed and letting folks through on a case-by-case basis should be fine.
ilamont 7y ago
The Mohawk Akwesasne council covers parts of New York, Ontario, and Quebec. The international border crosses islands in the St. Lawrence River as well as mainland areas, with tribal members going back and forth to visit family, go to school, get healthcare, go to work, etc. It's very complicated to monitor and regulate, with various tribe, state, provincial, and national authorities involved. There already is at least one COVID19 case being tracked: http://www.akwesasne.ca/mohawk-council-of-akwesasne-and-saint-regis-mohawk-tribe-joint-covid-19-novel-coronavirus-informational-briefing-march-14-2020/ http://www.akwesasne.ca/mohawk-council-of-akwesasne-and-sain... Further west, the bridges over the St. Lawrence connecting New York and Ontario get lots of daily cross-border workers, usually Canadians working in New York, as well as the normal flow of trade and tourism going both ways. Shutting it down would have a huge impact on the economies of both countries, but particularly Canada.
reaperducer 7y ago
There's a school district in Washington where the children have to take a bus through Canada to get to school. That is, if Washington State schools are still open. Still, there are a number of U.S. towns that can only be accessed through Canada. Also, my relatives in Minnesota say that most of the retail sales in their town is Canadians who don't have anywhere else to shop.
- danudey 7y ago
  > There's a school district in Washington where the children have to take a bus through Canada to get to school. In case anyone is curious, they're referring to Point Roberts, a town whose primary economic drivers are, as far as I've been able to tell, Canadians coming down to pick up packages to avoid cross-border shipping, and providing gas and restaurant meals to those same Canadians. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_Roberts,_Washington https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_Roberts,_Washington
- techsupporter 7y ago
  > That is, if Washington State schools are still open. All public schools in Washington State are closed, FWIW.
- abirkill 7y ago
  Another interesting example is Hyder, Alaska, which is only accessible by road from BC, Canada. It relies on various services from Canada, including ambulance and fire services, the latter due to Hyder's fire hall being burnt down, with their fire engine inside, during an Independence Day fireworks display. There are no border controls when entering Hyder from Canada, as the only way to access the rest of Alaska from Hyder is via seaplane, and those flights are treated as international in origin when they land. There is a inspection station when crossing into Canada, but it is closed overnight -- anyone wishing to enter Canada when its closed must report via videophone.
- brailsafe 7y ago
  The Winnipegers coming down probably could stand to ease off on at least some of the stuff they're going down there to buy. Not that Grand Forks isn't a nice little town, but damn it seems wasteful to drive so far for usually frivolous things. Edit: I do imagine that many smaller communities close to the border in MB need to cross into the US for necessities, and was being a bit facetious
- brailsafe 7y ago
  The Winnipegers coming down probably could stand to ease off on at least some of the stuff they're going down there to buy. Not that Grand Forks isn't a nice little town, but damn it seems wasteful to drive so far for usually frivolous things. Edit: I do imagine that smaller communities in MB do actually need to cross the border for a lot of things, but I think Grand Forks has recently been advertising in Winnipeg.

by wolco 7y ago

munk-a 7y ago

As someone who lived in Vermont and who has been on the Akwesasne reservation - yea, sure, but there still is a border. It isn't like folks in the grey zone can constantly wander across willy-nilly penalty free. There certainly are places where you can just walk across a border in northern Vermont, and it's illegal to do so - so not many folks will cross the border. Remember, we're not at walking-dead levels of societal collapse, we can still generally assume people are following orders given by governments, so just saying the border is closed and letting folks through on a case-by-case basis should be fine.

ilamont 7y ago

The Mohawk Akwesasne council covers parts of New York, Ontario, and Quebec. The international border crosses islands in the St. Lawrence River as well as mainland areas, with tribal members going back and forth to visit family, go to school, get healthcare, go to work, etc. It's very complicated to monitor and regulate, with various tribe, state, provincial, and national authorities involved. There already is at least one COVID19 case being tracked: http://www.akwesasne.ca/mohawk-council-of-akwesasne-and-saint-regis-mohawk-tribe-joint-covid-19-novel-coronavirus-informational-briefing-march-14-2020/ http://www.akwesasne.ca/mohawk-council-of-akwesasne-and-sain... Further west, the bridges over the St. Lawrence connecting New York and Ontario get lots of daily cross-border workers, usually Canadians working in New York, as well as the normal flow of trade and tourism going both ways. Shutting it down would have a huge impact on the economies of both countries, but particularly Canada.

reaperducer 7y ago

There's a school district in Washington where the children have to take a bus through Canada to get to school. That is, if Washington State schools are still open. Still, there are a number of U.S. towns that can only be accessed through Canada. Also, my relatives in Minnesota say that most of the retail sales in their town is Canadians who don't have anywhere else to shop.

danudey 7y ago
> There's a school district in Washington where the children have to take a bus through Canada to get to school. In case anyone is curious, they're referring to Point Roberts, a town whose primary economic drivers are, as far as I've been able to tell, Canadians coming down to pick up packages to avoid cross-border shipping, and providing gas and restaurant meals to those same Canadians. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_Roberts,_Washington https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_Roberts,_Washington
techsupporter 7y ago
> That is, if Washington State schools are still open. All public schools in Washington State are closed, FWIW.
abirkill 7y ago
Another interesting example is Hyder, Alaska, which is only accessible by road from BC, Canada. It relies on various services from Canada, including ambulance and fire services, the latter due to Hyder's fire hall being burnt down, with their fire engine inside, during an Independence Day fireworks display. There are no border controls when entering Hyder from Canada, as the only way to access the rest of Alaska from Hyder is via seaplane, and those flights are treated as international in origin when they land. There is a inspection station when crossing into Canada, but it is closed overnight -- anyone wishing to enter Canada when its closed must report via videophone.
brailsafe 7y ago
The Winnipegers coming down probably could stand to ease off on at least some of the stuff they're going down there to buy. Not that Grand Forks isn't a nice little town, but damn it seems wasteful to drive so far for usually frivolous things. Edit: I do imagine that many smaller communities close to the border in MB need to cross into the US for necessities, and was being a bit facetious
brailsafe 7y ago
The Winnipegers coming down probably could stand to ease off on at least some of the stuff they're going down there to buy. Not that Grand Forks isn't a nice little town, but damn it seems wasteful to drive so far for usually frivolous things. Edit: I do imagine that smaller communities in MB do actually need to cross the border for a lot of things, but I think Grand Forks has recently been advertising in Winnipeg.