A 6-year old girl who ran afoul of border rules meant to stop the spread of novel coronavirus underscores the need for a year round direct link to the Canadian mainland, says Justin Tinker with the Campobello Year Round Ferry Development Committee.  
     Taylor Paul Davidson of Welshpool says in a written statement that her daughter Rosalind planned to spend an overnight with her aunt Lindsay Paul Davidson and her cousins in Oromocto. They crossed the bridge to Lubec and drove straight to St. Stephen on May 25, where a Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officer deemed the trip non essential and ordered them into quarantine for 14 days.
     This shocked the family because Canadian border officials allowed them onto Campobello Island after driving through Maine from Calais to Lubec on May 22, the day the provincial government announced the start of the "yellow" phase of New Brunswick's COVID 19 recovery plan.
     The rules require people entering Canada to self isolate for 14 days but allow an exception for Campobello Island residents to cross the bridge to Lubec to buy essentials, such as gasoline and groceries, or drive straight to St. Stephen with no stops for travel, again, deemed essential. The CBSA officer did not deem the trip on May 25 essential so ordered them into isolation - meaning Rosalind would not be able to see her mother for 14 days.
     Tinker, who was already dealing with the federal and provincial governments over the ferry issue, sent e-mails to officials, and reporters asked Premier Blaine Higgs about the specific case at a news briefing on COVID 19. A special exception order finally allowed one parent to drive straight to Oromocto to pick up the child and return home after 11 days, according to Tinker. "She's home safe and sound with her parents," he says. "But, obviously, the island is in need of a direct link year round."
         "The only way to get off the island right now, I have to convince a federal officer that it is essential to life to leave the island either for essentials in Maine or to transit to Calais/St. Stephen," Tinker says.
         Rules meant to prevent a deadly disease from spreading interfere with the normal back-and-forth traffic in an intertwined community such as Campobello and Lubec. As one example, he said that friends and family on Campobello Island could not attend the funeral in Lubec for Pfc. Ethan Moores, 18, who died on May 27 at U.S. Marine Corps Camp Lejeune, N.C.
         Higgs and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau both say the federal and provincial governments are discussing relaxing restrictions to allow contact between close family members across the border in communities such as St. Stephen/Calais and Campobello/Lubec. However, Higgs says the rules would require visitors to self isolate for 14 days, ruling out a quick run over to say hello.
         For people such as Tinker with a grandmother in each country, that would mean 28 days in quarantine -- when you go across and when you return home -- "so that's a month to get two visits in."
         Tinker says the rules do not allow a Campobello Island resident to buy gasoline on the way to St. Stephen, as that would mean stopping in the United States, but you can gas up in Lubec, return to Campobello then head over the bridge again to drive straight to St. Stephen, adding two border crossings.
         Campobello Mayor Brett Newman signed a letter to Higgs, Trudeau, New Brunswick Southwest MP John Williamson and others on February 5 endorsing the proposal for a year round direct link between Campobello Island and the Canadian mainland. Tinker estimates that $15 million would build a terminal on Campobello and put a new or used ferry in the water to run between the island and Letete. Operating the service would cost between $1 and $1.2 million a year, he says.
         East Coast Ferries has announced that its summer seasonal service from Campobello to Deer Island will begin on Monday, June 15, making life easier until September, at least. The ferry landings for this service are not meant for winter, and Campobello residents headed for the mainland would add to the lineups for the Deer Island ferry, Tinker says.
         Transportation is a provincial responsibility, but Tinker understands New Brunswick's financial plight in light of COVID 19. Finance Minister Ernie Steeves projected in a fiscal update in May that the budgeted surplus of $92.4 million for this year will turn into a $299.2 million deficit, a reversal of nearly $400 million.
         "I understand that the province doesn't have $15 million to throw at this project to get a new boat and to build the landing that's needed on Campobello, but there is a place for the federal government as well; so now we are in the process of putting forth a parliamentary petition to the House of Commons for Ottawa," explains Tinker. He says that Williamson, the local MP, supports the project.
         Having to cross the border twice to get elsewhere in their own country puts Campobello residents at a competitive disadvantage, Tinker says. "There's nothing wrong with the bridge, there's nothing wrong with Route 189 or coastal Route 1 to Calais. It's the imaginary line that separates us," he says. Campobello Island's population has dropped 35% in 20 years, and COVID 19 could make 2020 a bad year for tourism, he says.