New Brunswick is expanding its travel bubble starting tomorrow (Saturday, August 1) to include two regions of Quebec which border Edmundston (Témiscouata Municipal Regional County) and Campbellton (Avignon Municipal Regional County).
Residents will be allowed to enter for day trips but can’t stay overnight with no self-isolation needed.
As with anyone entering New Brunswick, registration for trips must be done online in advance.
New Brunswick residents who travel into, but not beyond the two Quebec regions as part of same-day travel with no overnight stays will not need to self-isolate when they return home.
Municipal leaders and many local residents in the border regions are applauding the move but at least one politician is opposed to the idea.
People’s Alliance leader Kris Austin has been critical noting how well New Brunswick has done containing COVID-19 and he doesn’t want to see that change.
“My issue with extending to a certain region of Quebec is, Quebec as a province hasn’t done as well as other provinces in Atlantic Canada, and when you talk about the regions that are specifically going to be included in the bubble, there’s no way to track where those residents have been,” said Austin.
Elsewhere in the Atlantic travel bubble, there is a major change in Nova Scotia regarding the pandemic.
Starting today, wearing a mask will be mandatory in all public spaces in Nova Scotia.