While Transport Minister Omar Alhambra said Wednesday that no final decision has been made, sources told CBC News the government is likely to end all measures soon, pending Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s approval. The measures expire on September 30. “We’re constantly assessing the situation and making decisions based on information,” Algabra said on the way to a meeting of the Liberal Caucus. Cathy Pudlewski said she had such a terrible experience after being called for a random test that she could only compare it to “almost harassment.” The 73-year-old from Lancaster, N.Y., said she was crossing the border into nearby Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont. to see a show in mid-August, when she was told she would have to complete a test and given a test kit. “When I opened it, I was like, ‘Oh my God, what is this?’ What the hell?” he said. Pudlewski said she was so overwhelmed by the complicated instructions that she asked a local pharmacy to schedule a mock trial appointment to take place after the show ended. “I couldn’t enjoy myself [the play] one minute,” he said. She said she was on the verge of tears as she took the test in the theater lobby with the help of an employee. After completing the test, he said, he learned he would have to drive to another city — St. Catharine’s – to drop the test in a FedEx box. She said the ordeal added three hours to her journey. Cathy Pudlewski said she was entering Canada via the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge that connects Ontario to New York when she was selected for random testing. (Tijana Martin/The Canadian Press) Pudlewski said that since she was only in Canada for the day and wouldn’t know her results until after she returned home, the idea that she was protecting Canadians is “preposterous.” “I’m all for vaccinations and keeping everyone safe and healthy, but this is beyond the pale,” Pudlewski said, adding that she won’t return to Canada until the random testing requirement is lifted. It’s a refrain tourism operators have heard from a number of visitors, said Laurie Marcil, executive director of Nature and Outdoor Tourism Ontario. “We hear from guests that they won’t come back because it was such a negative experience,” he said of the guests who have been selected for random testing. Marcil, whose organization represents tourism operators in Northern Ontario, said the process is particularly onerous in remote locations where the cell phone service needed to sign up for a test is inadequate and courier locations are few and far between. She said some of her members took it upon themselves to help visitors register and arrange for couriers to pick up tests – things she said they shouldn’t be doing. “The owner of a guesthouse that has maybe 40 guests, they have a lot to take care of. So to deal with crisis-type situations like this right now is very, very difficult,” Marcil said.
Random tests were removed from airports
Foreign travelers aren’t the only ones complaining about the random testing requirement. Paul Milgram of Toronto was selected for a random test after returning from a work trip to London, UK in August. The government moved random testing out of airports over the summer to help ease some of the backlogs and long lines air travelers were facing. Instead, it allowed private off-site labs to conduct the tests. Milgram said that after receiving an email telling him to register with LifeLabs to complete a test, he was sent on a digital wild goose chase, with no clear instructions on how to fulfill the federal requirement. “Why do I have to research to take the test? They should send me and tell me exactly what to do,” she said after spending about an hour trying to sign up. Milgram said he also sought help from a pharmacy and was able to take a test without an appointment. He said that while he wasn’t opposed to getting tested, the hoops he had to jump through to do so were “dumb.”
The expert suggests monitoring the wastewater
The government says it has set aside up to $1.1 billion for the arrival testing scheme. Some medical experts say there are more effective ways to monitor travelers for COVID-19. “You can do wastewater surveillance where you can very likely answer the exact same questions and inconvenience a few people, do it in a much more cost-effective way,” said infectious disease expert Dr. Isaac Bogoch. Wastewater testing has become a vital tool in monitoring the spread of the virus. Dr Bogoch said replacing the random testing regime could be a simple matter of monitoring sewage at airports and on planes. “This just tends to be a much less expensive, much more efficient, much more convenient way of dealing with these kinds of questions,” he said. On Tuesday, a group of MPs and mayors of border cities published an open letter calling on the Canadian and US governments to end pandemic border measures, including Canada’s randomized testing regime. “We have been left behind in the recovery effort as both countries have largely returned to normal day-to-day life,” the letter said.
