Top Washington lawmakers ask for border exemption between Canada and small Whatcom County town

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Both of Washington's US Senators and two members of Congress are pushing for changes for the residents of an isolated Whatcom County town.

Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, along with Representatives Suzan DelBene and Rick Larsen have asked the US Ambassador to Canada to ask for a border exemption for residents of Point Roberts, Washington.

The letter was sent after a KING 5 story last month, in which the Point Roberts Fire Chief described the challenges of the extended border closure at the 49th parallel. Residents of the small town, in the past, have had to make two crossings to get to the rest of Whatcom County, a quirk of the treaty which created the small US territory.

The elected leaders' letter includes ideas for an exemption, in part, "Currently, the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) prevents non-essential travel of American citizens between Point Roberts and the mainland, which isolates that community from the rest of Washington and the country. It is possible for U.S. citizens to travel safely between the mainland and Point Roberts since they can enter Canada by car and re-enter the United States without stopping or getting out of their car. Individuals with drivers’ licenses from Point Roberts or who can prove ownership or lease in Point Roberts could be identified and allowed to transit between their town and the rest of Washington state. We urge you to raise this issue with the Canadian government and work to find a solution that protects public health and ensures Point Roberts’ residents can access the rest of the United States."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/top-washington-lawmakers-ask-for-border-exemption-between-canada-and-small-whatcom-county-town/ar-BB17O3uY?ocid=hplocalnews

[BusyBeingBest]

1. The downside of living in an enclave like that.

Canada doesn't want disease-ridden 'Murkans traveling in their midst, I get it, but not sure why they can't be allowed by car to report to the closest US border crossing within a certain amount of time to ensure they're not stopping in BC? It would take cooperation between the US and Canada checkpoints though. I mean, Canadians can fly down to the US any old time they want to, for ANY reason or NO reason, they just have to quarantine when they get back, so I'm sure they can make arrangements for these folks to drive to their own country without having it be an "essential" reason.

[NCjack]

2. Maybe it is time for reasonable people to craft a permanent solution. nt

[ret5hd]

3. Maybe let the people vote for seceding to Canada

[NCjack]

4. Yes. It would be the simplest, most reasonable solution if they voted to do that.

[SeattleVet]

5. Point Roberts is in a strange situation.

It's just under 5 square miles, with a year-round population of around 1400, which used to get to around 4500 before the pandemic, with many Canadians having vacation homes there. There is no hospital - only a small clinic that's open 3 days a week. Most residents have to come to the mainland for routine medical appointments.

The school there only goes from K-3, and from 4th grade on up the kids ride a school bus through the Canadian border crossing, then through the US crossing at Blaine to get to school. At the end of the day they reverse the process, with 4 border crossings per round-trip, every school day.

The Bellingham Costco was one of the company's top sellers of gas and milk...with most of it being sold to Canadian shoppers that came across the border for the much lower prices on these (and some other) items. A couple of years ago the store was so crowded that locals were asking for special 'locals-only' hours. Costco was also at one time considering building another store nearby to handle the volume.

Several years ago a rabid animal was discovered in Point Roberts. Problems arose when US citizens couldn't bring their pets through the border crossings to the mainland for vaccination, and the American vaccine was not approved for import to Canada. After a brief standoff the US Coast Guard did a 'training mission' and transported the vaccine directly to the town from the mainland.

Whatcom county had considered adding a temporary emergency ferry service to Blaine (possibly even using on of the local fireboats), but I haven't heard anything about where that stands now.

(When we went to China for our 10th anniversary trip I was talking with our group's tour guide one evening at the hotel lounge. I asked where he was from, and he said, "Oh, it's a small town that's really part of the US, but we have to go through Canada to get to it." I replied, "Point Roberts?" and he was astounded that I'd ever heard of it until I told him that we lived in Seattle. My wife was coming back from an event in Nanaimo - on Vancouver Island - one evening and took a wrong turn after she got off the ferry. She drove around a little and saw a sign that said "US Border", and wound up at the Point Roberts crossing instead of Peace Arch, where they directed her to the real way back home.)

Here's a CTV story from 2 months ago, talking with a resident (across what passes for the 'border' at that point) that had started a petition to get some type of relief for residents: