David Raymond Amos @DavidRayAmos
Replying to @DavidRayAmos @alllibertynews and 49 others
Methinks its too bad so sad that Higgy won't allow the rest of Canada to come on down and celebrate my birthday Kinda like Trudeau The Younger cancelling Canada Day in Ottawa N'esy Pas?
https://davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2020/07/higgs-may-open-nb-to-part-of-quebec.html
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/new-brunswick-gaspesie-quebec-bubble-atlantic-covid-19-1.5650511
Higgs may open N.B. to part of Quebec despite cool response from Atlantic premiers
Opening region to the rest of Canada by July 17 now appears off the table
· CBC News · Posted: Jul 15, 2020 9:11 PM AT
New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs said Wednesday any decision will be based on an assessment of public health risks. (Ed Hunter/CBC)
A proposal by New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs to extend the Atlantic bubble to include part of Quebec is getting a cool response from his Atlantic colleagues, but the province could still push ahead with dropping travel restrictions for residents of the Gaspésie region, and possibly others.
"We are considering various options for allowing some travel into New Brunswick for those who live close to the Quebec-New Brunswick borders," Higgs said in an emailed statement on Wednesday.
"It is possible we could expand the bubble to include the Gaspé and other regions of Quebec, but any decision will be based on an assessment of public health risks" associated with COVID-19, he said.
This went a little further than what Higgs told CBC News Tuesday night, when he said he expected to talk to his colleagues soon about bubbling with the Gaspé and hoped to see the expansion by the end of the week.
Public Safety officials did not respond to a request for information Wednesday about how the logistics would work if Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador do not agree to any expansion of the Atlantic bubble into Quebec.
All four Atlantic provinces have reported new cases of COVID-19 since they allowed non-essential travellers from within the region to cross borders without requiring a written exemption and a 14-day isolation period. All of the cases are travel-related, although they are related to travel outside the region, according to health officials.
We need more time living with the Atlantic travel bubble before we would consider or feel comfortable with expanding the travel bubble.
- Dennis King, P.E.I. premierP.E.I., which has a cluster of cases at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.and is testing hundreds of staff and patients who may have been exposed to an emergency room employee who tested positive after a flight from Toronto, won't even begin to think seriously about expanding the Atlantic bubble before August, said Premier Dennis King.
"We need more time living with the Atlantic travel bubble before we would consider or feel comfortable with expanding the travel bubble to the rest of Canada or provinces outside of the Atlantic region," he said in an emailed statement.
Higgs said the province's new online registration program could assist border officials with determining which Quebec residents would be allowed in if the expansion goes ahead. (Alexandre Silberman/CBC)
Nova Scotia will make any decisions about potentially expanding the regional bubble to include residents of other Canadian provinces and territories "based on our experience with COVID-19 in the coming days/weeks and the epidemiology at the time," Heather Fairbairn, spokesperson for the Department of Health and Wellness said in an emailed statement on behalf of the province.
"When a decision is made it will be communicated publicly, as has been our process throughout the COVID-19 pandemic," she said.
Parts of Labrador-Quebec border open
Newfoundland and Labrador opened its border to visitors from Fermont, Que. with travel exemptions late last month. Residents of Labrador City and Wabush, and residents of Fermont are permitted to travel only among these three communities, provided they are asymptomatic.The border checkpoint remains in place to monitor movement and ensure access for residents from these communities only,
Traffic to the province has been relatively low, with 9,900 travel exemptions approved since May 4, but the busiest point of entry has been the Labrador-Quebec border.
More than 400 of the 996 people who entered the province on Tuesday entered through the border between Fermont, and Labrador City, Premier Dwight Ball told reporters during a COVID-19 news conference Wednesday.
Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Dwight Ball told reporters Wednesday residents from the Gaspésie region would still need a travel exemption to get into his province. (GovNL/YouTube)
But that "doesn't necessarily mean that we would be OK with" New Brunswick allowing in Gaspésie-area residents, Ball said.
"We'll use the decision-making mechanism that has worked for us to get us safely where we are today and that is working with our own officials," he said.
"And, of course, if we get to a point we can see an agreement on this, you know, then we will explore that option. But you know for us, it will be our decision here in Newfoundland Labrador, based on the safety of our residents, and what's a priority for us.
"We take nothing for granted in this pandemic," said Ball, noting officials are trying to avoid a setback, which, he said, would be costly to the economy, and could also have a negative impact on the confidence of citizens. "All of this is balanced with the fact we know some families would like to be reunited sometime this year."
Higgs said he has "some apprehensions" about opening up the region to the rest of the country right now.
Pressure from border communities
He has been under pressure from people separated by the New Brunswick-Quebec border to ease travel restrictions.More than 400 residents of Campbellton, and the closest Quebec communities of Listuguj First Nation and Pointe-à-la-Croix gathered on the bridge linking the two provinces in May to demonstrate against New Brunswick's travel restrictions.
They called for a bubble to be formed between the communities to allow for essential travel and family reunification.
More than 400 residents of Quebec and New Brunswick met on the bridge that separates the communities of Campbellton, Pointe-a-la-Croix and Listuguj First Nation in May to march against New Brunswick's travel restrictions. (Serge Bouchard/Radio-Canada)
Darcy Gray, the chief of Listuguj First Nation, had also sent him a letter in May.
Higgs followed up with a call last Friday and, according to Gray, discussed "an initial target date of the 17th of trying to get Listuguj and other nearby communities included in the bubble."
"At no point did the conversation stray towards a bubble not happening. It was just a matter of when," Gray told CBC News.
Recent media reports about Higgs's comments have generated a lot of excitement, said Gray.
"I'm hopeful that, you know, Friday is the day. If it's not, it's going to be a quite a disappointment for, I think, a lot of people around here."
How far into N.B.?
Gray said Higgs never got into the specifics of enforcement during their discussion. He's not sure if Quebec residents would be able to travel to the other Atlantic provinces, or even farther into New Brunswick than just across the J. C. Van Horne Bridge."To me, the main concern right now is, you know, we've had a lot of people here that I think just need to reconnect with the other side of the [Restigouche] River, that need to have access to certain [goods] or family members, friends. I think that's the immediate need," he said.
"I'm not worried about, you know, 'Can we go to Moncton? Can we go to Saint John? Can we go to Halifax?' That's totally, you know, a whole other discussion. For me it's, how do we cross that river and start rebuilding this interconnectedness?"
A lot of animosity has been created over the last few months with the restrictions in place, said Gray.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, upwards of 5,000 people a day travelled back and forth freely every day, he said.
Many people have family or friends on the other side, and people from his community do most of their shopping for groceries, clothes, building materials and seasonal supplies in Campbellton or Atholville.
New Brunswick's chief medical officer of health Dr. Jennifer Russell said extending New Brunswick's bubble to other Canadians, including residents of border communities, is "being carefully considered."
"Public Health is monitoring what is happening elsewhere in Canada and gathering data to inform this discussion," she said in an emailed statement.
158 Comments
Commenting is now closed for this story.
David Amos
Methinks Higgy et al are wondering how many big wigs are planning to fly in to golf with his buddy Frank McKenna about now. Nobody can deny that Deputy Chair of TD Bank Financial Group and former Canadian Ambassador to the U.S. has been holding his annual networking event in Fox Harb’r since 2003.
His guest speakers have been Prime Minister John Major, President Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, Al Gore, Ambassador David Wilkins, sports legend Wayne Gretzky, Senators Edward Thompson and John Edwards. N'esy Pas?
Ray Oliver
Reply to @David Amos: That's in Nova Scotia. All that reciting of names and dates to make you look intelligent.. wasted.
David Amos
Methinks its too bad so sad that Higgy won't allow the rest of Canada to come on down and celebrate my birthday Kinda like Trudeau the Younger cancelling Canada In Ottawa N'esy Pas?
Tim Biddiscombe
Reply to @David Amos: Methinks you are arrogant N'esy Pas.
Tim Biddiscombe
Dumb move, Higgs. Really dumb.
David Amos
Reply to @Tim Biddiscombe: Methinks Higgy et al should agree that you are far more arrogant than I N'esy Pas?
Ray Oliver
Reply to @David Amos: No you take the cake there. Me me me me me look at me and how I'd sue a fire hydrant if I could..
Norman Albert Snr
Reply to @Tim Biddiscombe: "N O W A Y!!!"
That post was fla gg ed??? I beg your par don!! Y?
David Amos
Reply to @Norman Albert Snr: Methinks desperate spindoctors do desperate things N'esy Pas?
Ray Oliver
Reply to @David Amos: Glad to see you back you getting weekend passes from the ward now?
Robin Wheel
What a joke!
David Amos
Reply to @Robin Wheel: Welcome back to the circus
Joanne
Cooper
Doug Graham
Reply to @Joanne Cooper: I would call the Gov't and confirm what you need to do.....
James Smythe
Reply to @Joanne
Cooper: Maybe at the border. But once you get here, be prepared to be
“plate-shamed” for your out of province licence plates, yelled at,
possibly have your car keyed or tires slashed, and a host of other
vigilante justice from the frothing-at-the-mouth lynchmob who has been
trained into fear and learned helplessness to treat anybody from out of
province as “sick unless proven healthy”. Good luck.
Kat Jo
Reply to @Joanne Cooper: After your visit, if allowed in, I believe your Mother would have to self isolate for two weeks.
Lou Bell
Reply to @James Smythe: Ah , social media conspiracy theorist Jimmie and his falsities !! A true Trumper !
David Amos
Reply to @James Smythe: Methinks you have quite a fan dogging you N'esy Pas?
James Smythe
Reply to @Joanne Cooper: See @Lou Bell for the exact type of unhinged person I’m warning you about.
James Smythe
Reply to @Lou Bell:
It’s not a conspiracy when it’s how you people are actually behaving.
You might recall the Campbellton incident a month or so back for a
perfect example of this deranged mob mentality in referring to. It’s
deplorable behaviour Lou, and you’re complicit and an apologist for it.
William Reid
Reply to @James Smythe: The fact that each of these cases of "mob" rule has been reported on in depth indicates that such incidents are very rare like "man bites dog". There are no mobs roaming the streets of Atlantic Canada looking for cars to damage or deface. No CFAs are being beaten up or yelled at except for a few regrettable incidents. While we are friendly we're also being very careful. The Atlantic bubble is not yet two weeks old. There does not seem to be any spike occurring that can be traced to it but until 14 days have passed we don't really know and likely it will be a month before we can be really sure of our safety. Until then the idea of opening the bubble even just a bit to one of the two most stricken areas of the country is not a good idea.
David Amos
Reply to @William Reid: What about THE Mob?
Ray Oliver
Reply to @David Amos: You aren't doing any light bounty hunting for them like back in 2006? Slacker..
James
Smythe
Reply to @William
Reid: What a coincidence, the deaths and complications from Covid are
also extremely rare, and over reported upon. Explain away these rarities
as well.
Paul Butler
Mr.Higgs;Listen to
the people who elected you.You've done a great job so far.DON'T ruin
it.Keep us locked down.I wasn't for the Atlantic bubble.I'm certainly
not for letting anyone from Quebec (or) the States into our province.
James
Smythe
Reply to @Paul Butler: Pleading for less freedom and more govt overreach? Pathetic.
Marco
Bernardo
Reply to @James
Smythe: He is pleading for heath and safety of his family and community
James. Freedom doesn't mean much when your dead.
Paul Butler
Reply to @James Smythe: You should get your head/mind out of that way of thinking.This is a matter of life and death.
James
Smythe
Reply to @Marco
Bernardo: Why are you acting like this is extremely fatal? My cohort has
a 99.9% survival rate (under 65). I face risks bigger than that at work
every day.
James
Smythe
Reply to @Paul Butler: Sensationlist much? 0.2% total mortality worldwide hardly counts as “life and death”.
Wayne Wright
Reply to @James
Smythe: you didn't lose any meaningful freedoms during this time. All
was done for our safety and it has been proven successful. Look in the
mirror for an example of pathetic; you wouldn't feel that way if any
member of your family contracted Covid-19.
Wayne Wright
Reply to @James
Smythe: so it's not extremely fatal, just look at Quebec & Ontario
fatalities from Covid! Your "risks" at work are in your control so big
deal; with Covid there is no way to control it, unless you don't follow
the recommendations.
James
Smythe
Reply to @Wayne Wright: I don’t, never have, and never will. Guess what? Still perfectly healthy too.
Fred Brewer
Reply to @James
Smythe: If Covid is so harmless James, why not attend the next Covid
party in the USA? A 30 year old man who attended such a party, died from
the Covid he contracted at the party.
Fred Brewer
Reply to @James Smythe: Does the tin hat get hot on sunny days?
James
Smythe
Reply to @Fred Brewer: You’ll have to tell me.
Fred Brewer
Reply to @James
Smythe: I cannot tell what you feel, but it sure looks hot under that
tin hat of yours, unless of course you installed one of those beanie
propellers.
William
Reid
Reply to @James Smythe: There is a governor in the uS who thought like new. He has now tested positive. Hope you don't too.
David Amos
Reply to @William
Reid: Trust that I have crossed paths with many Yankee Governors since
Bill Weld held the reigns of power in Massachusetts back when the dude
who sold us tainted blood was his President
Ray Oliver
Reply to @David Amos: That's nearly incoherent and unintelligible. They mix up the medz today for you?
James Smythe
Reply to @William Reid: Probably already had it and recovered like 80% of people who get it.
Johnny Almar
You can’t open a section of a province. It’s not manageable. Either keep it shut or open it and pull back the provincial bouncers.
Johnny Almar
Reply to @Johnny
Almar: I also just learned that the Canadian border is open to anyone
wishing to travel here as long as it is by air.
Tim Biddiscombe
Reply to @Johnny
Almar: Ottawa slightly eased Canada’s border restrictions June 9. Under
the new rules, foreigners who are an immediate family member of a
Canadian citizen or permanent resident are allowed to enter Canada.
David Amos
Reply to @Johnny Almar: Do tell Have you snitched on any of our neighbours lately?
Fred Brewer
Reply to @Johnny Almar: Sure Johnny anyone can fly here as long as it is essential travel and they self-quarantine for 14 days.
Joe Doe
I have a hard time reconciling this. This is based on politics, not health.
Terry Tibbs
Reply to @Joe Doe:
It's always been based on politics.
It's always been based on politics.
David Amos
Reply to @Terry Tibbs: Its par for the course
https://www.themacdonaldnotebook.ca/2019/03/22/exclusive-frank-mckennas-annual-fox-harbr-shindig-goes-with-trump-backer-will-make-gender-history/
https://www.themacdonaldnotebook.ca/?s=Fox+Harb%27r
https://www.themacdonaldnotebook.ca/2020/06/28/new-york-times-political-journalist-to-highlight-20th-annual-frank-mckenna-fox-harbr-shindig-set-for-monday/
https://ipolitics.ca/2012/12/17/morning-brief-december-17-2012/
Morning Brief — December 17, 2012
Today’s Morning Brief is sponsored by the Canadian American Business Council. The CABC is the voice of business in the world’s most prosperous relationship. It is dedicated to elevating the private sector perspective on issues affecting our two nations, Canada and the United States.
————
Carney stung by reporting on one-way courtship by Liberals — Flaherty meets with provincial counterparts — Geithner expected to move into Bernanke’s Fed job — John Kerry poised to replace Clinton — Stoffer shoots pool and other stuff with Laura Stone — Poll shows CPC base holding firm — And, a wee $17K dram.
————
Good Monday morning to you. Today is the 109th anniversary of the Wright brothers’ first flight.
If one ever needed a better example of the poisonous hyper-partisan nature of politics in Canada, this weekend’s l’Affaire Carney serves as an excellent exhibit.
In the spirit of full disclosure, Mark Carney regularly runs past iPolitics’ editor James Baxter’s home. They are friends and talk a lot about hockey, their kids are friends, and Diana Carney writes occasionally for iPolitics. That’s kind of how Ottawa works.
So how surprising is it really that Carney spent four days with his family at the seaside home of Tory-turned-Grit MP Scott Brison last summer? Carney had attended a business conference at Fox Harb’r Resort and then had his family join him for a short holiday in the Maritimes. And, since rumours have been flying about efforts to recruit Carney to the Liberal party, how surprising was the rest of the Globe and Mail exclusive on how the Paul Martin camp of the Liberals failed to convince him to run?
Reached yesterday, Mark Carney admitted to being stung by some of the over-the-top innuendo that his words and deeds over the past year might have been tainted by overtures he had received from members of Paul Martin’s camp within the Liberal Party to run for the leadership. Two speeches in particular – to the Canadian Autoworkers and another to the Spruce Meadows Roundtable in Alberta debunking the Dutch disease rhetoric – were singled out for special scrutiny as potentially politically motivated.
Carney said it’s simply not true and that he and the Bank of Canada plan to address these accusations today, but said yesterday that anyone who attended (or bothers to read the speeches – which are available on the Bank of Canada website) knows there is nothing political in them. To the Autoworkers, he said high wages and low productivity are a problem – not exactly a vote-getter in the union world. On Dutch Disease, Carney’s diagnosis was based on the very wonky ToTEM (the bank’s Term-of-Trade Economic Model) that doesn’t leave a lot of room for interpretation.
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty will likely be asked all about the Carney revelations when he speaks to reporters following his meeting with provincial and territorial finance ministers to discuss the state of global economy at the government retreat at Meech Lake, outside of Ottawa.
Regardless, Carney will be leaving and the Bank will soon be looking for a new governor. It appears that the U.S., too, will be replacing Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, though the Obama administration probably won’t surprise anyone, particularly not global financial markets, and will opt for Tim Geithner, currently the treasury secretary.
President Obama has also reportedly made up his mind about a new secretary of state. While Hillary Clinton rests at home after fainting over the weekend, which resulted in a concussion, the White House is preparing to nominate John Kerry to her post for the second term. The scuttlebutt in Washington is that Kerry, a long-time Democrat senator from Massachusetts, was helped in getting the nomination by some of his GOP friends in Congress, who waged a vicious scorched-earth campaign against U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice to ensure she didn’t get the nomination. That moves Kerry into the top contender position and opens up the secretary of defence position for Chuck Hagel, a well-regarded moderate Republican.
Here’s a surprise: NDP MP Peter Stoffer doesn’t relish being a “a bit of a prick,” which is why he doesn’t aspire to his party’s leadership. Click here to see what else Stoffer revealed over lunch and a game of pool with Laura Stone.
A large EKOS poll released this morning shows that despite everything, the Conservative Party is still holding steady in public support, but the left side of the ideological spectrum is still shifting. Stephen Harper’s Conservatives had 31.9 per cent support nationally, while the Liberals (24.4 per cent) and NDP (25.8 per cent) are still in a fierce contest for the non-Conservative vote.
Here and there:
- Newfoundland Premier Kathy Dunderdale is set to make an announcement today on the $7.5 billion Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project;
- Alberta Premier Alison Redford is in Chicago to speak to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs;
- Statistics Canada releases Canada’s international transactions in securities for October;
- Missing Women Inquiry Commissioner Wally Oppal announces the findings of his inquiry around the serial murders by Robert Pickton;
- Paul Adams takes a look at the political art of lying — when it works, when it doesn’t and why the F-35 fiasco might not have a lasting impact on public opinion.
- Michael Harris reads the tea leaves on 2013: another year of frantic spinning for Harper, damage evasion for Trudeau and … seriously, Mr. Mulcair, lose the beard already.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/new-brunswick-higgs-quebec-gaspe-atlantic-bubble-canada-1.5649482
Higgs seeks to extend bubble to part of Quebec this week, postpone rest of Canada
New Brunswick premier says he has 'some apprehensions right now,' but will discuss matter with fellow premiers
· CBC News · Posted: Jul 14, 2020 7:16 PM AT |
Premier Blaine Higgs said he needs to discuss the matter with his colleagues, but he feels delaying opening up to the rest of Canada until Aug. 1 is 'probably more likely.' (Government of New Brunswick/Submitted)
Premier Blaine
Higgs says he'd like to extend the Atlantic bubble to include the
Gaspésie region of Quebec before the end of the week, but he thinks
opening up to the rest of Canada should be pushed back for at least
another week.
"I have some apprehensions right now in relation to opening up our border," he said.
All four Atlantic provinces have reported new cases of COVID-19 since the bubble began July 3; all of them related to travel outside the region, according to health officials.
Higgs believes his fellow Atlantic premiers also have some "reluctance right now" about opening up the region to the rest of the country, but he expects they will discuss the matter in the coming days.
"I have some apprehensions right now in relation to opening up our border," he said.
All four Atlantic provinces have reported new cases of COVID-19 since the bubble began July 3; all of them related to travel outside the region, according to health officials.
Higgs believes his fellow Atlantic premiers also have some "reluctance right now" about opening up the region to the rest of the country, but he expects they will discuss the matter in the coming days.
"I would like to be all lined up here and that we can work together because we did this before … and I'd like to continue that," he said.
"There has been no firm decision made on an expansion to a 'Canadian bubble,'" Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Dwight Ball said in a statement Tuesday.
"Same as the decision to open the 'Atlantic bubble,' any future broader movement to other Canadian jurisdictions or easing of travel restrictions for Newfoundland and Labrador will be determined and guided by our public health experts and chief medical officer of health," he said.
Many
people are taking advantage of the Atlantic bubble. Traffic was backed
up for about five kilometres entering New Brunswick on July 9. (CBC/Alexandre Silberman) Newfoundland and Labrador's Health Minister John Haggie said Tuesday the 17th "was simply arithmetic," coming 14 days after the July 3 opening of the Atlantic bubble. The estimated incubation period of the virus is up to two weeks.
Two weeks is also the period of time public health officials have used to transition between the easing of restrictions.
Higgs said he believes area residents feel "sympathy" toward the rest of Canada and would like to find a way to make opening up work.
But there's also "certainly great concern about the [COVID-19] situation in the denser-populated cities like Montreal or Toronto and what we'd [be] exposed [to] there," he said.
That's why he's looking at connecting the northern part of New Brunswick with the Gaspésie region as a possible "next step" later this week.
"I think we can control that now and monitor that," by using the province's new online travel registration program, he said.
109 new cases in Quebec
Quebec reported 109 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to date to 56,730.There are 295 people in hospital, including 21 in intensive care.
Five new deaths were recorded Tuesday, for a total of 5,633.
Quebec is registering about 100 new cases of COVID-19 daily. After having dropped almost steadily since mid-May, the five-day rolling average of new cases began to rise in late June, around the same time the bars and nightclubs in the Montreal area reopened.
The Gaspé Peninsula, which is located along the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River and extends into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, has a population of about 80,000, according to the 2016 census.
As for opening up to the other provinces, Higgs said he thinks waiting until Aug. 1 is "probably more likely." But he stressed he won't be making the decision in isolation.
"I'd like to have that opportunity to discuss with my colleagues and then decide collectively what's in our best interest," he said.
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