{"id":5596,"date":"2020-07-21T12:01:51","date_gmt":"2020-07-21T16:01:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/?p=5596"},"modified":"2020-11-18T15:24:41","modified_gmt":"2020-11-18T20:24:41","slug":"what-its-like-crossing-the-border-as-an-essential-worker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/what-its-like-crossing-the-border-as-an-essential-worker\/","title":{"rendered":"What it&#8217;s like crossing the border as an essential worker"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>When Joanna Perkin gets in her car to drive home to New Brunswick after a 12-hour shift at the Amherst women\u2019s shelter where she works, she never knows how long the trip will take.<\/p>\n<p>While her drive home usually takes about 15 minutes, she can be stuck at the border for an extra hour or more.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Click to listen:<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><!--[if lt IE 9]><script>document.createElement('audio');<\/script><![endif]-->\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-5596-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/July-21-Perkin-1.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/July-21-Perkin-1.mp3\">https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/July-21-Perkin-1.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/figure>\n<p><em>\u201cAfter my long shift, I want to get home. And instead, when I\u2019m leaving work, I\u2019m making sure that I have a snack in the car, I\u2019m making sure I\u2019ve used the bathroom, I\u2019m making sure I\u2019ve filled my water bottle up, because I don\u2019t know how long I\u2019m going to be waiting at the border. Making sure that my phone is charged, all of those things. Like you know, sitting in my car and watching people get out and sit on the side of the road or getting out and urinating on the side of the road getting into New Brunswick. It\u2019s really ridiculous to watch and to be a part of that, right<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Perkin has had no trouble getting into Nova Scotia on her way to work, but getting home to New Brunswick is a different story.<\/p>\n<p>And it all started with the Atlantic bubble.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Click to listen:<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-5596-2\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/July-21-Perkin-2.mp3?_=2\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/July-21-Perkin-2.mp3\">https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/July-21-Perkin-2.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/figure>\n<p>\u201c<em>So going across the border when it was shut, I had passes to get both into Nova Scotia and New Brunswick and had no challenges with that for the however many months that the borders were closed. Since the Atlantic bubble has opened on I think it was July 3, I have had every challenge that I can imagine getting back into my home province of New Brunswick. I still have zero challenges going across into Nova Scotia<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Perkin says she has never been refused or turned away at the border, but she has gotten mixed messages about the process.<\/p>\n<p>And what\u2019s most frustrating, she says, the erratic wait times often seem pointless.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Click to listen:<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-5596-3\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/July-21-Perkin-3.mp3?_=3\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/July-21-Perkin-3.mp3\">https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/July-21-Perkin-3.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/figure>\n<p><em>\u201cMore often than not, I\u2019ve been waved through. But it\u2019s not because I have a pass. It\u2019s because they\u2019re waving everybody through. So last night, I sat in line for about 35 minutes. And then they just let every car go through. They weren\u2019t checking anybody. There was nobody even waving them through. All the border workers were just sitting in their little tents that they have set up there, and everybody was just driving through.<\/em>\u201c<\/p>\n<p>Another point of confusion for Perkin is the status of her essential workers pass.<\/p>\n<p>Despite being assured by the premier\u2019s office that the pass will not expire, she has been told several times by border staff that it has.<\/p>\n<p>Others have told her to hang on to it no matter what.<\/p>\n<p>Perkin has yet to use the new online pre-registration form put in place two weeks ago by the New Brunswick government, which it claimed would help speed up things at the border.<\/p>\n<p>If anything, things have gotten worse since then, says Perkin.<\/p>\n<p>She says there\u2019s no point to using the online form.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ciick to listen:<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-5596-4\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/July-21-Perkin-4.mp3?_=4\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/July-21-Perkin-4.mp3\">https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/July-21-Perkin-4.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/figure>\n<p><em>\u201cI\u2019ve actually said to the Premier\u2019s office, I really have no intention of registering online. And that sounds like I\u2019m being difficult, but it\u2019s because it\u2019s changed so many times. And it doesn\u2019t matter whether I\u2019m registered or not, I still have to wait in that line up at the border. There\u2019s no separate line for people who have their forms filled out already. So it doesn\u2019t matter whether I do it in advance or not. And at the border I\u2019m being told I don\u2019t need to fill it out because I have an essential worker pass.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Perkin would like to see essential workers given access to the commercial vehicle lane, a second lane set aside for trucks or other commercial vehicles crossing the border.<\/p>\n<p>She\u2019d also like to see New Brunswick work with its neighbouring province to relocate the border checkpoint to the weigh station in Nova Scotia, with its many available lanes.<\/p>\n<p>Perkin has shared her issues with MLA Megan Mitton, Sackville mayor John Higham and even Nova Scotia MLA Elizabeth Smith-Mccrossin.<\/p>\n<p>All have been helpful, she says, but unable to cause change.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Click to listen:<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-5596-5\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/July-21-Perkin-5.mp3?_=5\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/July-21-Perkin-5.mp3\">https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/July-21-Perkin-5.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/figure>\n<p><em>\u201cIn terms of people who actually make the decisions about what\u2019s going to happen at the border, I\u2019ve been really bounced around. Oh, you should talk to this person. You should talk to this person. Oh, just fill out the form online and it\u2019ll be fine. Well, the form doesn\u2019t do anything for me at the border, first of all. And being bounced around from person to person\u2026 Somebody has to be making the decisions, right? So I\u2019ve been having like a lot of a lot of difficulty. I haven\u2019t really received any satisfactory response in terms of what they are going to do to make this easier and less complicated.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>What the government needs to do, says Perkin, is figure out the goal of the border policy, and then put consistent measures in place that can achieve that.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Click to listen:<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-5596-6\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/July-21-Perkin-6.mp3?_=6\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/July-21-Perkin-6.mp3\">https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/July-21-Perkin-6.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/figure>\n<p><em>\u201cThe big thing is that they need to be consistent in whatever they\u2019re doing. They need to figure out what they\u2019re going to do and stick with it.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>CHMA has reached out to the New Brunswick Department of Public Safety for more information, and we\u2019ll bring you that in the coming days.<\/p>\n<p>If you have issues or questions with the border, please contact CHMA news at <a href=\"mailto:news@chmafm.com\">news@chmafm.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When Joanna Perkin gets in her car to drive home to New Brunswick after a 12-hour shift at the Amherst women\u2019s shelter where she works, she never knows how long the trip will take. While her drive home usually takes about 15 minutes, she can be stuck at the border for an extra hour or&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":5610,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[217,57,218],"tags":[],"radio":[],"origine":[274,275,277],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5596"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5596"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5596\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5596"},{"taxonomy":"radio","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/radio?post=5596"},{"taxonomy":"origine","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/origine?post=5596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}