The Member of Parliament for Provencher is calling it long overdue.
Ted Falk is referring to news out of Ottawa that the last of Canada's COVID-19 border restrictions will expire Saturday morning.
A cabinet order affecting mandatory vaccinations, testing and quarantine of international travellers is set to expire on September 30th. Two senior government sources have confirmed that the cabinet order maintaining COVID-19 border measures will not be renewed when it expires first thing next Saturday morning. That expiry also spells the end of insisting travellers use the ArriveCan app to input their vaccine status and test results, though the app will live on as an optional tool for customs and immigration.
"My immediate reaction was, finally," says Falk. "I think it's been long overdue."
Falk says all along it has been no secret that he has been against mandatory vaccinations and has opposed the use of the ArriveCan app at border crossings.
"I think Canadians' Charter of Rights and Freedoms have been grossly violated," adds Falk. "And I think this is long overdue and I'm excited that it's finally happened."
The Provencher MP suggests a few reasons for why he thinks Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has finally agreed to lift these restrictions. He believes the number one reason is that we now have a better understanding of what COVID-19 is and what it is not. But, in addition to that, he says there are four federal court challenges that have begun the process of challenging the vaccine mandates and health restrictions that were put in place.
According to Falk, vaccine mandates and restrictions have been the number one concern that he has been hearing from his constituents. Whether or not residents of southern Manitoba make a beeline for Grand Forks and Fargo next weekend is to be determined, but Falk says a lot of people have indicated their desire to head south again.
"Certainly the residents of Provencher want to return back to a near normal type of navigating through life again and I think this is just long overdue," he adds.