POINT ROBERTS, Wash. – Pandemic border woes continue for the residents of Point Roberts, Washington.
The Whatcom County exclave has been cut off from the mainland and marooned since the pandemic forced the U.S. and Canada to halt cross-border traffic.
Those restrictions eased somewhat last year, but Point Roberts Chamber of Commerce President Brian Calder says they’re still struggling to get services on the peninsula.
“Contractors, plumbing, heating, roofing, septic pumping, insulation people who come from Bellingham and Blaine and Lynden and Ferndale, come over here,” said Calder. “They aren’t coming.”
He says there’s just too much uncertainty at the border and businesses can’t afford to gamble on projects there.
“It’s time consuming and you get turned back. You still have to pay your staff,” said Calder. “Even though they were rejected to go to the job, they are on the job.”
One bright spot for Point Roberts is that the Canadian government has waved the testing requirement for its citizens to return after visiting the community.
They just have to show proof of vaccination and a completed ArriveCAN app form.
Calder says that makes Point Roberts the “quickest, easiest and safest” place in the U.S. for Canadians to visit.