The New York Times - USA (2020-08-09)

4 SUNDAY, AUGUST 9, 2020

Tracking an Outbreak

N

I was packing for my road trip from
Colorado to Alberta, Canada, when the
text came in from a gentleman I’d been
helping with groceries during the pan-
demic.
“The Canadians are actually doing
damage to vehicles with United States
plates on them,” he cautioned, giving me
my first inkling that it wasn’t just public
health officials who were serious about
keeping Americans out of Canada, where
the death rate from the coronavirus has
been roughly half that of its southern
neighbor.
As a dual citizen I was entitled to cross
the border, closed to most Americans be-
cause of the pandemic. With an octoge-
narian father in Calgary who had been
largely isolated during the stay-at-home
orders, I was willing to submit to Cana-
da’s mandatory two-week quarantine in
order to visit.
But my friend’s warning proved
prescient. Some concerned residents
who fear that the virus will be spread to
their communities have been taking mat-
ters into their own hands, spurring so
many reports of intimidation that the
premier of British Columbia, John Hor-
gan, reminded angry Canadians to “Be
Calm. Be Kind” at a July 27 news confer-
ence.
Addressing those Americans who are
in Canada legally, he said: “With respect
to those who have offshore plates and are
feeling harassed, I would suggest per-
haps public transit. I would suggest that
they get their plates changed. I would
suggest that they ride a bike.”
Before the pandemic, when Ameri-
cans could choose most any country in
the world to travel, Canada was their sec-
ond most popular foreign destination,
behind only Mexico. Lured by the prox-
imity, advantageous exchange rate and
safety of their northern neighbor, in the
first six months of last year, U.S. resi-
dents made 10.5 million trips to Canada,
the highest level in 12 years, according to
Statistics Canada, a government agency.
But the welcome mat was rolled up on
March 31, when the border between the
two countries was closed to tourists.
That hasn’t kept some Americans
from trying, however. Many are rou-
tinely turned away at border crossings,
while others have chosen to go sightsee-
ing instead of taking the most direct
route to Alaska as required of those driv-
ing from the Lower 48 — even though vi-
olators face possible fines, jail or even be-
ing banned from Canada.
There were so many interlopers that
on July 31, Canada began limiting which
crossings along the border with the
United States can be used by foreign na-
tionals who are allowed to transit
through the country for nondiscre-
tionary purposes. It is also requiring
them to register, and making them dis-
play a hang tag on their rear view mirror
with a mandatory departure date. The
crackdown comes even though the num-

ber of tickets issued was just a fraction of

the number of reports coming in to Royal

Canadian Mounted Police.

In the province of Alberta, for in-

stance, there were no tickets issued to

American motorists in April, May or

July, and only nine tickets issued in June,

all in Banff National Park, said Cpl.

Tammy Keibel, a spokeswoman for the

R.C.M.P. in Southern Alberta. The fed-

eral police force didn’t start recording

complaints about international license

plates until June 17, but there were 53 re-

ports in the entire province between

June 17 and June 29, and 121 between

July 1 and July 28, she said.

The province’s most troublesome

scofflaw thus far is a fellow from Alaska

who was so determined to enjoy Banff

with a woman from Calgary that he’d met

online that he was issued two of the June

tickets. His identity hasn’t yet been re-

leased, Corporal Keibel said.

His downfall, like that of many others,

was precipitated by concerned citizens,

not authorities. The Alaska plates on his

truck were spotted June 25 during one of

the regular parking lot sweeps that the

Rimrock Resort Hotel in Banff conducts.

Video footage was reviewed to confirm

the driver’s identity, and he was ques-

tioned in his room. When he was unable

to show that he had complied with quar-

antine laws, the police were called, said

Trevor Long, the Rimrock’s general

manager.

Since the border closed four months

ago, only four other guests have been

questioned about their plates. One was

an American who had been in Canada

since before the border restrictions, an-

other was in the military and said he was

an essential worker. The other two were

let off with a warning.

The Alaskan, however, proved a “chal-

lenging fellow” who thought “this whole

pandemic was a farce,” according to Mr.

Long. He was issued an $870 ticket under

the Alberta Public Health Act and in-

structed to leave town the following day.

Instead, the couple showed up for their

massages the next morning.

“He was a little bit irritated that we

said, ‘No, you’re not allowed to have your

spa appointment,’ ” Mr. Long said.

The pair then drove to the Banff Gon-

dola, a popular tourist destination,

where the Alaska license again

prompted someone to call the R.C.M.P.

The couple was intercepted at the

summit and he was charged with vio-

lating the federal Quarantine Act and

faces up to six months in prison and an

additional fine of up to $560,000 if con-

victed. A patrol car escorted them out of

town, though Corporal Keibel didn’t

know if the man from Alaska had left

Canada, nor whether he’d be required to

return for his November court date.

On a sunny day in late July, I drove

around the Banff area and looked at an

estimated 200 cars. Only one was from

the United States, a Toyota Prius from

California parked at Johnson Lake. Well,

that one, and mine. And it didn’t take long

for someone to notice my Colorado

plates.

“Hey, how’d you get across the border,”

a guy on a beater bike called to me as I

was parked at the corner of Buffalo and

Bear streets. When I told him I was a citi-

zen, he retreated. “I was just wondering,”

he said, cautioning that some locals get

furious when they see U.S. plates.

These local efforts aren’t confined to

Canada. In Hawaii, a group with more

than 5,600 volunteers called the Hawai’i

Quarantine Kapu Breakers works to

track people breaking the mandatory

two-week quarantine for visitors to the

islands. The quarantine law, which will

be in effect until at least Sept. 1, carries a

possible $5,000 fine and up to a year in

jail.

Angela Keen, who is running the

sleuthing posse, said it has helped bring

45 people to the attention of the authori-

ties, including the leader of a countercul-

tural group called Carbon Nation and 20

of his followers. The leader, Eligio

Bishop, pleaded no contest in June to

breaking quarantine rules and was sen-

tenced to 90 days in jail. His sentence

was suspended and the charges against

his followers were dropped when they

agreed to return to the mainland.

In New York, where visitors from

many states are asked to quarantine for

two weeks, there have been more than

1,400 complaints to the state’s Covid-

Enforcement Task Force regarding pos-

sible violators, according to Caitlin

Girouard, a spokeswoman for Gov. An-

drew M. Cuomo. That doesn’t include

complaints to local health departments.

Ms. Girouard did not know how many

tickets had been issued under the order,

which carries fines of up to $10,000 if a

person causes “harm.”

The maximum penalty in Canada is far

higher, with the possibility of up to three

years in prison and a $750,000 fine for

someone who willfully causes harm to

another.

Among Canada’s citizen detectives are

those spurred on by the Canada Border

Services Agency.

Some who live on Vancouver Island

have taken to monitoring boat traffic to

see who turns off their vessel’s automatic

identification transponder, which is re-

quired to be on at all times. When they

notice a craft has gone dark, they assume

it’s trespassing and report it to the

R.C.M.P. Two American boaters have

each been fined $738 under Canada’s fed-

eral Quarantine Act. One reportedly mis-

stated his intentions to sail to Alaska,

while the other was a whale-watching

vessel that had crossed the border from

Washington.

The big fines and possible prison sen-

tences are meant to be a serious deter-

rent. Despite the loss of revenue from

American tourists, Mr. Long, who is also

president of the Banff & Lake Louise

Hospitality Association, said he doesn’t

know a single person who wants the cur-

rent restrictions to relax.

“We are very reliant on the American

traveler. It makes a huge impact on the

economy,” he said. “But we are ready to

continue taking the hit until things get

better around the world.”

Other Canadians speak of the situation

with less restraint. “It makes me angry

and it frightens me because Canada is

obviously doing its level best, mostly

successfully, to keep our country as safe

as possible and our numbers low,” said

Tamara B., of Calgary, who asked that

her last name not be used. “You’d have to

be living in a cave for the last six months

to not know what the situation is down

there” in the United States.

I could understand her fear of getting

Covid-19. I’d been nervous about the in-

creased risk of contracting the virus

while traveling and expected that the

stressful part of my trip would be the 16-

hour drive from Colorado to Calgary. Or

maybe the quarantine.

But my friend in Colorado with the

warning about car damage was right.

Besides the fear of getting sick, the real

stress is parking a vehicle with Ameri-

can plates, and hoping that nobody no-

tices them.

Sites like the glacier-fed Two Jack Lake in Banff National Park, Alberta, draw Americans every year. But this year, some Canadian citizens are reporting unwanted U.S. tourists to the authorities.

NINA SHELANSKI

TRAVEL

Infuriated Canadians Are on the Lookout for Sneaky Americans

By KAREN SCHWARTZ

Old Montreal’s Place Jacques-Cartier, emptied of tourists. Fines for sneaking over the border can climb to six figures.

ERIC THOMAS/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE — GETTY IMAGES

Checking license plates,

monitoring boat traffic —

and calling the police.