A bipartisan group of legislators has sent a letter to U.S President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urging them to work together to safely reopen the U.S-Canadian border. The border has now been closed for over a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Senator Mark Johnson (R-East Grand Forks) released the following statement:

“The Canadian Border must be open,” said Senator Johnson. “The amount of commerce, tourism, and free-flowing travel between the United States and Canada is critical to our communities in Northwestern Minnesota. After stringent year-long travel restrictions across the border, there is increasing need for a safe reopening. The border is an important step to getting our way of life back to normal.”

President Biden:

We are writing to bring to your attention the need to safely reopen the US-Canadian border. As representative of border districts, and communities that rely on Canadian tourism, we have weathered the devastating effects of COVID travel restrictions for a full year. The effects are staggering, with Explore Minnesota reporting $7.1 billion in travel spending losses. The travel impact has been statewide, but there has been a pronounced impact to northern Minnesota from the loss of both Canadian customers and Minnesota customers.

According to the Canadian Consulate, in 2017 Canadians made 703,000 trips to Minnesota and spent $195 million in our local economy, and in return, Minnesotans spend $208 million in travel service to Canada each year. Minnesotans resort communities, outfitters, and border families were already impacted by business and gathering restrictions, and the loss of the tourism economy is a brutal one-two punch. Reopening in time from the spring and summer travel seasons is a priority to ensure Northern Minnesota Main Streets can survive the pandemic.

We urge you to work with Canadian and US border officials to safely reopen the northern border. The pandemic has stolen so much from so many, but we don’t need to stand by and watch it steal the economic future and heritage of Minnesota northern communities. With robust testing in place and vaccinations moving ahead of schedule, Minnesota is ready to reconnect with Canada in a safe manner.