Prescott is joining a number of border towns that would like to see preparations begin to get the Canada-US border reopened.
At their last meeting, town council passed a resolution in support of the Town of Fort Erie’s proposed resolution about the Federal government providing transparency with its plans to reopen border crossings.
Mayor Brett Todd says there’s been very little communication from the Feds about how and when borders will be opened again.
“There’s obviously a real need to keep borders closed, and to make sure that we have security there and we’re monitoring who comes into Ontario, but at the same time, we’ve got to get back to some hope, and get back to what happens next,” Todd said.
Todd says the resolution comes after discussions with the group of border mayors, who want to be more involved in talks to reopen the crossings.
He adds that the border mayors will be meeting with Minister Bill Blair to discuss their concerns next week.
“We should get some good information from Minister Blair who’s always been excellent working with our group, and we’ll give our feedback on border issues and hopefully we’ll have more information on what the Federal government is planning,” Todd said.
On Thursday, the Federal government announced that the border closure would be extended to non-essential travel until at least June 21.
Todd says he’s hopeful to see some movement after that date expires.
“It’s hard to believe that we’ve had our border closed for over a year,” Todd said. “Prescott, Ogdensburg, and all the surrounding communities are very intertwined in New York State and into Ontario. There’s a lot of family relationships.”
The border mayors group will be meeting with Minister Blair to discuss their concerns over ZOOM on May 28.
