U.S.-Canada border closure affecting relationships

Imagine you are separated from the person you love since March 16 because you don’t fall into an exemption category and therefore travel to see one another is not deemed essential.

2019 was a year of great joy in my life and discovery that life truly goes on when you’ve been faced with heartbreaking devastating loss. February 24,2016 was the day my life changed forever when my wife was taken in a single car accident. With no real explanation to cause and mishandling of the scene and loss of personal items, a hole was left in my life forever. Finding my way through grief and learning to find new things that gave life meaning again took lots of time. After urging from my wife’s grandson that she would want me to be happy and have someone in my life, I finally decided to take that step.

I decided to look using on-line …..yes….dating sites. I talked and even met a few people this way and even made a good friend but not a true connection romantically. I then tried a different site more geared towards people from the country lifestyle and discovered that there are interesting people from outside my immediate area, which also included other countries. Specifically, Alberta, Canada.

Going through the process of reading profiles and deciding who might have similar interests and thoughts ultimately led me to one person. We started talking in October of 2018 and quickly it seemed to be a comfortable process of learning more about each other and that we had many similar likes and came from similar backgrounds. Finding someone that is easy to talk to and is interested in what you have to say is exciting and so we continued talking for several months. Finally in January of 2019 I made the 560 mile trip to a small town and hour or so north of Edmonton, Alberta to meet this person and see if the connection we had made over the prior months was real.

Fast forward for the next year with monthly trips north to see her and several trips for her to Montana to see me. We found that yes we enjoy each other’s company and in February I asked her to marry me….knowing we would face immigration issues but never expected what was to come. I saw her in March and returned home on March 16th just before the Covid-19 closure of the Canada/U.S. borders. We have waited each 30 day period anticipating being able to see one another yet to be prevented by another border closure extension.

Then they deemed certain immediate family members able to cross the border to see one another however we not being married do not qualify. Now the wisdom of the Canadian Federal government is allowing travel by airplane to the U.S. However that is not in my opinion a safe means of travel with close proximity to several hundred people and no social distancing. My fiancé also has never flown before which adds to the level of uneasiness.

In my opinion, there should be exemptions made for engaged couples, who have no symptoms or have tested negative, to travel by personal vehicle across the border to see one another. How can you say that would be more risky than flying on a plane with a hundred or more people in a confined space, going through several airports and facing commonly touched surfaces that may be clean or not. One person in their own personal vehicle driving from point A to point B with one stop for fuel and no real public interaction thus limiting most exposure, and bringing our own food so no restaurants visited has to be safer. But in the wisdom of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau….airlines are allowable for travel. Stupidity rears its head during this overblown and highly overrated pandemic. They say that some 96 % of those who contract Covid-19 either do not know they had it or have mild symptoms. I get it that there are vulnerable populations that need to be protected, but common sense should be enough and social distancing practiced by those who are symptom-free and healthy to avoid the spread.

I love and miss my fiancé and never thought I would be able to say that after losing my wife.

Please allow exemptions for safer means of travel and border crossing for all those separated by this closure. The economy needs to get back on track and life still needs to go on, even during a pandemic.

—Craig Jore, Kila