Premier Horgan Discusses Tourism & Travel Restrictions During Today's News Conference
In a session with reporters earlier today, Premier Horgan responded to questions about a potential travel ban or other measures that would impact tourism. The Premier's comments are consistent with TIABC's messaging in recent weeks, and also provide some insight on what lies ahead.
Reporter: Premier, Manitoba has implemented a 14-day quarantine for anyone coming into the province due to concern around the variants. Alberta's provincial health officer is also saying that that might be a consideration. Why hasn't BC done something similar to this? And is this something that is being considered?
Premier Horgan: We took a good look at the legal and the other ramifications of bringing forward restrictions for non-essential travel. We discussed that briefly last week. Until such time as the public health officer advises me that there's a benefit to going down that road, we're going to leave it untravelled for the time being.
That's not to say we won't go in that direction, but the differences between Manitoba and British Columbia I think are obvious to most people. There are four roads in and out of Manitoba. There are dozens of roads in and out of British Columbia. We have major airports. There is but one major airport in Manitoba.
I've certainly been working with Premier Pallister and other premiers across the country on travel issues. These are important issues for British Columbians.
The public health evidence is not there at this time. Dr Henry assures me that when that evidence is there, she'll present it to me. And because of the work we've been able to do, we may be in a better position to take action at that time.
What we want to focus on now is if you are coming to British Columbia on non-essential travel, you better behave appropriately. You better follow our public health guidelines or we'll come down on you like a ton of bricks. If you're coming here for non-essential activity, you need to abide by the rules and regulations that all British Columbians are following.
Reporter: We have a reporter in Whistler right now who has run into a number of people from out of province who are looking for a party, as they describe it. So when you say you will come down like a ton of bricks, what is a ton of bricks?
Premier Horgan: We're looking at, for example, ski hills. This is an area where the activity is not the problem. If you're on the black diamond run at Whistler or Big White and you've got your mask on, you've got a helmet on and you're fully rigged up for the cold weather, you're not a prospect for transmission of COVID-19. So that the resort operators, the hill operators, are doing what they can to make sure that public health orders are being accounted for in the activity.
It's when people leave the hill and look for the party that we're seeing transmission. And that's where we're very concerned. And that's where Dr. Henry and Minister Dix are looking at what the consequences are of those that are coming from away, as well as those, quite frankly, who are coming from downtown Vancouver, or the Island or any other part of British Columbia looking for a party. This is not the time to do that. And we have appropriate mechanisms in place to enforce those bylaws and those health orders. Minister Farnworth's been doing just that.
Reporter: The Prime Minister has suggested there are new restrictions coming on travel; he sort of hinted to Canadians not to go outside of the country on holidays for fear they might not be able to get back in in a timely manner. You're talking to him fairly regularly, have you asked him specifically to do anything? What have you suggested to him that BC wants to see on that?
Premier Horgan: I called some months ago for a pan-Canadian approach to inter-provincial travel and the Prime Minister in his most recent comments over the past couple weeks has been appealing to all Canadians to stay in place. If you don't need to travel within your province, certainly stay where you are and if you don't need to travel outside of your province, stay where you are. I'm grateful that the federal government is showing leadership in that regard.
When it comes to our international borders we worked very aggressively at the beginning of the pandemic because of our proximity to Washington State where there were a series of outbreaks. We were aware of them very early on because the first case we had here and Dr Henry and public health got on top of this in January whereas other provinces were looking into March.
The federal government has been very responsive to our concerns about international travel and I know that Premier Ford and Premier Legault in particular, where they're seeing it starting to level off but high spikes in cases as they're getting towards the spring break.
We don't have the same concerns about spring break where we have seasonal temperatures but for those living in the heartland of Canada where it's cold today -- I can understand they'd want to look at another place to go, but they need to stay home and the Prime Minister has been focusing on that. If there are new travel restrictions internationally, BC stands ready to work with the federal government to implement them here.
Reporter: You mentioned you think there are too many ways to get into BC to make a 14-day quarantine rule effective, but don't you think implementing that BC could be considered a deterrent for people in other parts of Canada who might be planning a trip here?
Premier Horgan: Well if it's a deterrent we're looking for, I think that saying quite clearly that if you come to BC, you have to abide by the rules here in BC. If we see through public health that an increase in the number of people from outside of BC is contributing significantly to the increase in community outbreaks, we'll take action. We did the legal work. We know what we would be required to do to put in place restrictions on internal travel. But we don't believe it's necessary at this time.
I appreciate that Manitoba is going in that direction. Per capita, their case counts are frightening. And I can well understand why they would want to do that. One highway from Ontario in, four highways into Saskatchewan. That's it. We have one major city, one major airport. Five -- no, that's them. We have one major region. Five urban centres. A major airport, ten interprovincial airports. Some 60 flights a day to YVR, 10 flights a day into Victoria, 27 interprovincial crossings. So it would be a logistical challenge.
We had enough challenge with the international borders assisting Canada Border Services when we put imposed the restrictions internationally. We brought forward dozens and dozens of provincial employees to help backstop the federal initiative, and that's their business. That's what they do every day, is monitor the border where there are checkpoints. We have no checkpoints in BC. So logistically, it would be a challenge. How would we monitor that? We have plans in place if we need them, and we'll follow through on that.
Reporter: Even since you have received that legal opinion on domestic travel, and I know you haven't shared that opinion with us so I'm just guessing, it seems to turn on the notion that there's no demonstrated risk to the health of British Columbians. But things have changed since that report came down. You've got the arrival of the variants and delays in vaccine distribution. How can anyone say with confidence that these variants here do not present a risk to the health of British Columbians?
Premier Horgan: Well we can't and we're not. But what Dr. Henry says regularly is that we are doing our best to suppress community transmission using contact tracing to find where exposures have taken place, and taking steps to isolate those individuals. We'll continue to do that. And if there is overwhelming evidence, Dr. Henry looks at this with her team. Again, I go back to the hours and hours that are spent analyzing data and making determinations on what steps we can take, what advice public health will give to government, and she'll continue to do that.
Last week, there was no evidence that interprovincial travel was contributing to a significant increase in case loads. Activity in locations where people from outside of BC have congregated, yes. But directly connecting all of those dots has not happened. So when that does, we'll be in a different position than we were when we got the legal opinion. And we'll take steps as required.
Again, I want to stress people should stay home. As the Prime Minister has said, as premiers are saying across the country, don't travel unless you have to. That's our biggest hope, is that people will listen and they will abide by the rules that all British Columbians, or the vast majority, have been for months and months and months.
Reporter: Can you clarify if the legal question was on a potential ban on travel, or was it, as Manitoba has done, quarantine requirements for non-essential travellers?
Premier Horgan: It was a legal opinion that was presented to cabinet and I'll leave it at that.
Reporter: I'm just trying to get a sense of whether or not what Manitoba is doing is a reasonable measure based on erring on the side of caution? I don't know that Bryan Pallister is saying there's evidence of risk. They are saying there is a risk we are not going to take that risk.
Premier Horgan: Maritimes did something similar at the beginning -- pardon me, Newfoundland particularly was able to ban travel. And that was upheld in their courts. So we've looked at those examples. We will look at whatever comes from Manitoba, they are in the early stages of this initiative. We reached out yesterday for more details and we have not yet received them but there will be more coming. Again I just look at the logistics. Not just the legalities. The logistics are extremely challenging.
The best course of action is for Jason Kenney, Scott Moe, Bryan Pallister to say to their citizens of western Canada, stay home. And again I applaud the Prime Minister on that route now. He'll be talking more I'm sure about international travel as the week unfolds into next week.
When it comes to people from away, coming here, we want to welcome you to British Columbia. Our visitor economy is critically important to us. Our tourism industry depends on people coming from away, but not today.
Reporter: My question relates to what you've been talking a lot about today. I'm just wondering (inaudible) British Columbians to do more. Would there be symbolic value in implementing what Manitoba is doing? You've talked about all the different border entries presenting logistical challenges. But wouldn't there be, from a morale point of view, to ensure the government is doing something extra to try and keep people safe?
Premier Horgan: Again, the challenge is how would we do it? And I'm just not the type of person that's going to say this is what we're going to set out to do, knowing we are not able to achieve it in an appropriate time frame.n Travel restrictions at the front end were critically important to British Columbia. Those international travellers were bringing COVID-19 into British Columbia.
We were able to suspend that at great cost to our tourism sector, particularly here in Victoria. And so we don't want to make symbolic statements. We want to make sure we are suppressing community spread and that means following the orders that are in place.
Dr. Henry's appeal to British Columbians, is I believe, an example of the frustration she feels as we see extraordinary efforts by the vast majority of British Columbians and a handful of people deciding they are above everyone else. That's just not Canadian. It's not who we are. And it does a disservice to all of us and leads to appropriate frustration, not just from the general public but community leaders as well.
Reporter: I'm wondering beyond symbolism as a practical matter Family Day is coming up, spring break isn't far off. We know people travel to Whistler and other places from across the country. Realistically people will continue to do that especially if there isn't an order in place. What's the likelihood going forward in the next several weeks that there will be tighter restrictions on an interprovincial basis as you explore what Manitoba has to say as you go forward?
Premier Horgan: Yeah, again, we're not ruling anything out. Never said that. I've said we want to make sure that we can implement a program that would make sense to suppress community outbreaks or community spread of COVID-19. We will be revisiting...Dr. Henry will be revisiting her orders on February 2nd. Cabinet will hear some new information on modelling and other information next week and then we'll get advice from public health on where we go from there.
But the orders are currently in place and I think that people who are looking at Family Day as an opportunity to get away, I think this is an opportunity to breakout another jigsaw puzzle and gather together and spend some time reflecting on how much time we'll have to ourselves once the vaccine program is completed and we get back to normal.
For those...my kids are no longer at home. For those who have kids at home, spend as much time as you can because they'll be out the door pretty soon and that's critically important to all of us. So enjoy your Family Day with your family in your bubble.
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