Sorry Buffalo. Why Would Canadians Want To Go Over There?

Being A Victim of a Random Shooter or Having Our Cars Vandalized or Stolen – Just Because Trump Told Some of You to Hate Canadians – Is Not on My Bucket List

A Commentary by Niagara At Large reporter and publisher Doug Draper

Posted June 20^th, 2022 on Niagara At Large

Sorry Buffalo. You want to call yourself the ‘City of Good Neighbours’?

There was a time, not long ago and before the pandemic set in, when that seemed to be so true. My wife and I –residents of Niagara, Ontario – enjoyed going to Buffalo all the time to enjoy the festivals and the architecture of neighbourhoods along and around the great boulevards and parks designed by Olmstead in the late 1800s.

But those days are gone and despite all of the posturing from the current mayor that this is still America’s city of good neighbours, the rate of violent crimes in the city has significantly increased and then there was the horror of that mass shooting at a popular grocery store this spring.

Yet there is still no interest in the United States to do what Canada and virtually every other advanced country around the world has done – ban the mass sale of assault weapons that are only produced to slaughter people.

These lethal guns, it seems, are valued more than the lives of growing numbers of children cut down by shooters in schools.

Why, then,  would anyone want to risk going to the Allentown Art Festival or a shopping mall or a grocery store or one of Buffalo’s indoor or outdoor entertainment venues and risk being blown away  by some angry screwball who bought a military-style assault gun and hundreds of rounds of ammmo in nearby states like Ohio or Pennsylvania where they don’t give a shit who they sell lethal weapons to and what they are going to do with them?

So when, for example, Buffalo-area Congressman Brian Higgins – as well meaning as he seems to be – says that the Canadian government should put an end to that ArriveCAN documentation requirement – a bureaucratic mess that must be filled out online and presented at the border on a smart phone or similar device – he and other U.S. and Canadian politicians 9ossing the border political representatives (including Niagara Falls, Ontario Mayor Jim Diodati) are right that this requirement is keeping people from crossing the border.

But they also may want to consider other reasons why people from Niagara, Ontario, at least, don’t want to cross.

The reason is the proliferation of guns and gun violence in the United States and, as far as Canadians are concerned, the fear of violence we may face in a Trumpy atmosphere where Americans have been told by Trump and his supporters that Canadians are a threat or an enemy.

During Trump’s term as president, he actually listed Canada as a security threat.

So thanks Congressman Higgins for wanting us to come back but I, for at least one, am not interested in getting the windows of my parked car smashed because it has the wrong license plates.

As for the Trudeau government in Canada? Why would it ever get rid of the AriveCAN  requirement when it forces so many people who don’t have a smart phone to stay on the Canadian side of the border  under the threat of facing  house arrest (quarantine) for 14 days?

Although Trudeau and his Liberal MPs on this side of the border will never admit it, ArriveCAN is an excellent way of stopping Canadians from spending some of their money across the river.

For the Trudeau government, building this cumbersome bureaucratic wall is likely the whole point of it because it certainly has nothing to do with COVID health measures – not when the same government is now saying you don’t have to prove you were ever vaccinated to board a plane.

Don’t try to tell me that a fully vaccinated person willing to show their vaccine passport to security officers can’t cross the border for a few hours, then say it is okay for anyone to board an plane or go back to an indoor workplace whether they have been vaccinated or not.

Please spare us the bullshit.

For what it is worth, here is a recent news release (below) from Buffalo, New York area Congressman Brian Higgins, urging the Canadian government to drop ArriveCAN . It is an urging that is not likely to go anywhere –

Congressman Brian Higgins Stands with Border Leaders & Tourism Agencies in Calling for an End to the ArriveCAN Mandate

“The ArriveCAN app and other restrictions continue to be a barrier to the free flow of people across the northern border. My office regularly receives calls from Western New Yorkers frustrated and confused by the technology and frequently changing, disjointed requirements for crossing between the U.S. and Canada.

“Consequently, to bypass the uncertainty and hassle it creates, many are avoiding making the trip across the border entirely. We have to get back to pre-pandemic US-Canada border management.  I stand with municipal leaders and tourism agencies in calling for an end to the ArriveCAN mandate<https://globalnews.ca/news/8922280/drop-arrivecan-travel-app-mayors-ottawa/>.”

The Canadian government recently announced<https://www.canada.ca/en/treasury-board-secretariat/news/2022/06/suspension-of-the-vaccine-mandates-for-domestic-travellers-transportation-workers-and-federal-employees.html>, “As of 00:01 EDT on June 20, 2022, the vaccination requirement to board a plane or a train in Canada will be suspended.”  The suspension does not apply to those crossing at land borders. On May 31, 2022, Health Canada announced an extension of current border measures<https://twitter.com/GovCanHealth/status/1531643707967037445> until at least June 30, 2022, this includes random COVID testing for those who are vaccinated and submission of information through the ArriveCAN app or website within 72 hours of travel.

Congressman Brian Higgins serves as co-chair of the Canada-U.S. Interparliamentary Exchange and the Congressional Northern Border Caucus. 

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