Trudeau meetings with Biden rekindle border reopening talks

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is waving off suggestions that the Canada-U.S. border will reopen any time soon.

Trudeau says Canadians are looking forward to the day when incidental cross-border travel can “eventually” resume.

But he says that discussion is not for today, and that people on both sides of the border will have to keep waiting patiently for the COVID-19 pandemic to abate.

Trudeau’s recent conversations with President Joe Biden and other U.S. officials have rekindled the debate about reopening the border.

Biden is cautiously hopeful that accelerating vaccination efforts will allow Americans to gather in small groups by the July 4 weekend.

New York congressman Brian Higgins says it should be possible to reopen the border by then, with a partial opening before the end of May.

Higgins has written a letter urging Biden to make a gradual easing of the border restrictions a top priority for the White House.

Clearly, though, it’s not currently top of mind for the Prime Minister’s Office.

“We’re all eager to be able to travel again,” Trudeau said on Mar. 15 during a news conference in Montreal.

“But I think we’re all going to wait patiently until such time as the health situation allows us to loosen border restrictions internationally. That’ll be eventually, but not for today.”