Premier Iain Rankin. Image: Communications Nova Scotia.
Premier Iain Rankin said Thursday he was “surprised” by the New Brunswick government’s decision to loosen its border restrictions ahead of other Atlantic provinces and that he did not know the announcement was coming.
On Wednesday, New Brunswick premier Blaine Higgs announced his province was entering Phase 2 of its reopening plan. The announcement came just one day after the province entered Phase 1 of its plan.
Under Phase 2 rules, New Brunswick opened its border to all travelers from other Atlantic provinces, meaning any Atlantic Canadian can enter the province without self-isolating.
The province is also now allowing travelers from the rest of Canada to enter without self-isolating if they have at least one vaccine dose.
Those looser border restrictions stand in contrast to Nova Scotia’s opening plan, which will see this province open its border to the rest of Atlantic Canada on June 23, and not open to the whole country until at least July 14.
The July 14 “Canadian Bubble” can only happen if vaccine uptake is high enough and Covid-19 case counts are low enough.
At a June 16 press briefing, Rankin revealed he did not know Higgs’ Phase 2 announcement was coming.
“We found out about this the same time you did,” he said in response to reporters’ questions about the news.
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The premier said he has “calls out” to New Brunswick’s government and that he’s “eager to know more about their plans.”
Rankin pointed out that the Atlantic provinces had agreed to reopen the Atlantic Bubble on June 23, based on Covid-19 epidemiology. He said he was “surprised that [New Brunswick’s] risk tolerance was different than that.”
Dr. Robert Strang, Nova Scotia’s chief medical officer of health, added that Nova Scotia plans to stick to its own recovery plan, which calls for at least two weeks between each new opening phase.
Covid-19 has a two-week incubation period, he explained, so it makes sense to wait at least that long to see what effects looser restrictions have had.
Strang said New Brunswick’s decision to move through its phases so quickly means health officials in Nova Scotia will have to watch that province closely.
“They certainly are introducing a higher level of risk in their province, and … we are watching closely,” he said.
Rankin said New Brunswick has the right to make whatever decision it wants and noted that other provinces will follow the advice of their own medical experts. However, he said Nova Scotia’s plan is “based on very clear epidemiology” and that he doesn’t anticipate changing it.
“I’m very confident in our plan and we’re going to stick to our plan,” Rankin said.
Rankin said he will meet with other Atlantic premiers tonight to talk about how to track travelers’ vaccine statuses when they come to the region.
He noted that other provinces have various documents they use to track vaccine status and that he’s interested in those approaches.
“I would like to see as much consistency as possible so that there are documents we can all count on,” Rankin said.
Trevor Nichols is a reporter with Huddle, an Acadia Broadcasting content partner.
