GRAND PORTAGE, Minn. – Canada dropping the need for a molecular COVID-19 for Canadians to return to the country won’t mean much for border businesses, says the general manager of Ryden’s Border Store.
Testing requirements of any kind will hinder travelers, especially those on quick trips across the border for gas or to pick up packages at the Grand Portage, Minn. store, a favourite stopping point for Thunder Bay and area residents for decades.
Jaime Spry said the loosening of restrictions don’t go far enough, given the lack of testing capability in the area, especially if the tests must be taken in the United States – which the federal government has yet to fully clarify.
It’s disappointing, Spry said.
“Throughout the rest of (our) country, everybody’s moved on, living life. Yes, it’s still serious, but it’s serious like any type of infection or virus. We’re stuck in a situation where our main revenue comes people who live across a border who live 30 minutes from us,” Spry said.
“We need those people to be able to come down or else it makes it hard. And it’s not just us, it’s the community here and the communities all up and down the border.”
Spry said he was hoping, when word broke last week that Canada was considering loosening restrictions at the border that it would at the very least mean a return to no tests needed for Canadians crossing into the United States for less than 72 hours.
Canada implemented similar rules last November, but when the Omicron variant hit, within weeks restored the PCR test requirement, which can cost $100 or more, and had to be taken out of country. For a business like Ryden’s, which relies heavily on day-trippers and tourists flowing into the States looking for snacks and gas before heading to Duluth or Minneapolis, or the duty free shop for a bottle of booze or carton of cigarettes before heading home, it’s just not sustainable.
Traffic is as low as it’s ever been, with Canadians simply not willing to fork out the cost of a PCR test, if one is even available nearby, never a guarantee.
Spry said they saw some uptick when the need for testing was dropped, even though it wasn’t significant, compared to pre-pandemic times.
“It’s all relative. In regards to the last year-and-a-half, we saw significantly more people coming down just to pick up packages, get gas, go to the duty free, go to the casino.”
Spry said he was encouraged to hear that more restrictions at the border could be lifted in the next few weeks. But he also said he’ll believe it when it happens.
“We’re not going to hold our breath. We’ll wait and when it happens, it happens,” he said.
