Even Maritime towns reliant on tourism support keeping Canada-U.S. border closed

Border decision was the right one Despite impact on tourism, many say border should remain closed for now. Mike Cameron reports.

ST. ANDREWS, N.B. — You can see the United States from the shoreline in St. Andrews, N.B., but travelling to or from there is not an option -- and civic leaders seem to be OK with that.

"When the announcement was made that it was going to be another 30 days, I think there was a sense of relief among a lot of people in our community," said St. Andrews Mayor Doug Naish.

There were visitors in town on Wednesday, but all the licence plates were from New Brunswick.

Some of the tourist favorites, like whale-watching excursions, have yet to open for the season.

David Welch worked for 25 years in the whale-watching business. He agrees with the decision to keep the border closed, but he also fears for the industry.

"It relies on a two-and-a-half month season, and that two-and-a-half months is a make or break for the year, and you have to fire on all cylinders to make it through the year," Welch said. "We're like an eight-cylinder car firing on one-and-a-half cylinders right now."

No one is surprised by the decision from Ottawa and Washington to close the international border for at least another month, though the implications of that move for tourism communities like St. Andrews are real.

"Last year, we had a record-breaking May and June," said inn manager John Gardner. "This year we broke the record simply because we haven't had the traffic."

New, and unwelcome, records are being set, though few are second-guessing the border closure.

"This is the right thing to do," Gardner said. "When this is over, and we come back to normal again, trust me, they're gonna be here. They're going to be flooding through here again like they always did."

The decision to keep the border closed will be revisited by Canada and the United States on July 21.