Canadian tour boats entering U.S. waters lead to turbulence during COVID-19 border closure

Friday, August 14, 2020 – by John McHutchion

Here’s what you need to know to get the day started:

Canadian tour boats entering U.S. waters lead to turbulence during COVID-19 border closure

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Canada and the U.S. have agreed to shut their shared land border to non-essential traffic, which includes recreational boating. However, some U.S. commercial tour boat operators in the St. Lawrence River — who are now prohibited from entering Canadian waters — say their Canadian counterparts don't face similar restrictions.

"I have no problem with Canadian boats coming into the U.S. waters," said Ron Thomson, owner of Uncle Sam Boat Tours in Alexandria Bay, N.Y. But he said Canada should also let in U.S. tour boats — as long as no one docks and passengers don't disembark. "What [COVID-19] threat do my boats pose by coming into Canada and then going back to my docks?"

Americans caught entering Canadian waters for tourism face up to six months in jail and/or fines of up to $750,000.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) told CBC News that the rules are even because Canadian tour boats actually aren't allowed to enter U.S. waters. "Traversing U.S. waters for recreational purposes is deemed non-essential and therefore not authorized due to the current travel restrictions," CBP spokesperson Mike Niezgoda said in an email.

But U.S. tour operators said they see two Ontario-based tour boat companies — Gananoque Boat Line and Rockport Boat Line — take Canadian passengers on tours multiple times a day along the U.S. side of the St. Lawrence.

Gananoque Boat Line — based in Gananoque, Ont., near Kingston — declined to comment and referred CBC News to Transport Canada, which said in an email that it "respects the authority of U.S. officials regarding vessels entering their waters."

Rockport Boat Line, based in Rockport, Ont., confirmed to CBC News that it's still sailing to the U.S. side of the St. Lawrence and said that it has permission to do so. Company president Kathleen Allen said in an email that Rockport's tour boat is considered a commercial vessel, not a recreational boat, and that U.S. CBP told her the vessel could travel — without stopping — in U.S. waters. "We are not 'crossing into the U.S.' as in some kind of border crossing," Allen said. 'We are travelling nonstop through U.S. waters."

More on this issue

Read: The Canada-U.S. border could be closed for months. Here's what you need to know now

Interactive: Tracking the coronavirus

A picture of focus

(Stu Forster/Reuters)

Cricket player Jos Buttler of England concentrates as he tries to catch the ball during a match against Pakistan on Thursday in Southampton, Britain.

In brief

The public servants who manage the National Emergency Strategic Stockpile (NESS) warned in early February that there was a shortage of the personal protective equipment (PPE) needed to weather a pandemic. However, it took weeks for the federal government to sign contracts for goods like N95 respirators, the masks used by health-care professionals to protect themselves from COVID-19. Records released to the House of Commons government operations committee show that, despite the warning in February, the government signed few contracts for PPE or other equipment, like ventilators, until mid-March. In fact, the bureaucrats charged with replacing the national stockpile didn't receive special dispensation — a national security exemption — to quickly replenish supplies through sole-sourced contracts until March 14. The first orders for N95 masks weren't finalized until March 18 — days after the Public Health Agency of Canada co-ordinated a national shutdown as provinces issued emergency orders amid a surge of COVID-19 cases. Read more on this story here.

Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet has threatened to topple the government if Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Finance Minister Bill Morneau and Katie Telford, the prime minister's chief of staff, don't resign over what he deems the mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic and the WE Charity controversy. But as CBC’s Éric Grenier writes, it's not entirely clear that the Bloc has much to gain from an election. Polls suggest that if an election were held today the Bloc would be unlikely to improve its position in any significant way. In fact, the Bloc could find itself losing the balance of power it currently enjoys. Read more analysis here.

Holders of the post of U.S. vice president mocked it with self-deprecating one-liners long before the TV show Veep practically turned disparagement of the office into its own comedic genre. But the position has changed and grown over time, illustrating a broader evolution in U.S. politics in which the presidency has gained, and Congress has lost, political power, writes CBC Washington correspondent Alexander Panetta. The VP is now a top adviser to the president. And a troubleshooter — the lead on a few serious files, like a pandemic; a trusted envoy who flies on Air Force Two to carry the president's message to foreign capitals or rides a limousine motorcade up to Capitol Hill to represent the boss in a legislative negotiation. Read more on the evolution of the role of vice president.

Canadian tennis star Bianca Andreescu says she won’t defend her U.S. Open title. The 20-year-old announced yesterday she was dropping out of the tournament, which is due to begin on Aug. 31 in New York. Andreescu hasn't played a match since she suffered a knee injury last October. "The U.S. Open victory last year has been the high point of my career thus far and I will miss ... being there,” she said in a statement. “However, I realize that the unforeseen challenges, including the COVID pandemic, have compromised my ability to prepare and compete to the degree necessary to play at the highest level." Several other high-profile players have withdrawn from the tournament due to the coronavirus, including Spain’s Rafael Nadal, the 2019 men’s champion. Read more on Andreescu’s decision here.

Canadian cities from Edmonton to Montreal are lowering speed limits, primarily in an attempt to save lives. But slowing down may also be an easy way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution — not just on urban roadways but also on highways. Certain pollutants such as nitrogen oxides are generated mainly at higher speeds, said Marianne Hatzopoulou, professor and Canada research chair in transportation and air quality at the University of Toronto. That's the reason the Netherlands recently cut its daytime highway speed limits from 130 km/h to 100 km/h. But Hatzopoulou said cutting speed limits can reduce emissions on city streets, too. In both cases, it's not just your maximum speed that counts but how often and how much you speed up and slow down, as a result of things like congestion and traffic control. Read more on this in the latest edition of our environmental newsletter, What on Earth?

Now for some good news to start your Friday: The program volunteer co-ordinator for the Thunder Bay 55 Plus Centre says she's ecstatic that the centre's volunteers have been honoured with a national award. The volunteers collectively took home the Community Leader Award from the 2019 Canada's Volunteer Awards, which are handed out by the government of Canada. They were recognized for their role in preventing social isolation among older adults and contributing to positive physical, social and mental well-being. “They are an amazing group of inspiring individuals," Tessa Hettrick said of the team of more than 200 volunteers, who she said range in age from 55 to 105. They collectively log approximately 21,000 volunteer hours for the centre's activities, events and outreach programs, she said. Read about the volunteers here.

The roots of Lebanon’s anti-government protests

This week, Lebanon's prime minister announced his resignation, along with his entire cabinet. The announcement follows massive anti-government demonstrations that erupted in the wake of the explosion that rocked central Beirut last week. But even with the government stepping down, the protests have persisted.

Today, reporter Rebecca Collard, who's been reporting from Beirut for years, joins us to explain how the protests started long before the explosion and why they're raging on.
Listen to today's episode

Today in history: August 14

1848: A clause in the Act of Union, making English the official language of the Province of Canada, is repealed.

1934: Millionaire brewer John Sackville Labatt of London, Ont., is kidnapped and held for ransom. He was released in Toronto on Aug. 17. Three men were eventually arrested in the case. Ringleader Michael McCardell was sentenced to 12 years in prison after pleading guilty to the crime. Two other men got 15 years in prison.

1945: The Second World War comes to an end with VJ Day - Victory in Japan Day. U.S. President Harry Truman announces that Japan has unconditionally surrendered just days after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The official document was signed Sept. 1, 1945, aboard the U.S. battleship Missouri with Gen. Douglas MacArthur accepting the surrender on behalf of the Allies.

2003: The biggest blackout in North American history hits most of Ontario and the Eastern Seaboard, including New York, Cleveland and Detroit, leaving 50 million people without power.