Thought of the Day - April 19 2021 - The Atlantic Bubble Still Deflated

Well as you may have heard the reforming of the Atlantic bubble that was to be launched today has been delayed until May 3. "Given the recent surge in cases of COVID-19 in parts of Atlantic Canada and the emergence of more transmissible forms of the virus, the Council of Atlantic Premiers has agreed to delay the reopening of the Atlantic bubble by at least two weeks, to May 3, 2021." the statement said. Unfortunately last week things actually went backward. Nova Scotia reintroduced 14-day self-isolation for travellers from New Brunswick or Nova Scotians returning home from NB.

Currently, New Brunswick has about 150 active cases, a rate that is less than 10% of the Canadian per-capita average. All the other Atlantic provinces have active case figures in the double digits. However, the issue is less about the number of cases, rather the fact they are increasing. In other news, this past Friday morning, the car belonging to the president of a group of French islands drove five metres into Fortune, N.L., and then promptly reversed back onto the ferry from which it came. It was all part of a ceremony that would have been decidedly less bizarre if it weren't for the COVID-19 pandemic.

The event was a celebration of Fortune's newly upgraded wharf which, for the first time, allows cars to drive on and off the ferry that runs to St-Pierre-Miquelon, an overseas territory of France about 40 kilometres from Fortune. The car belonging to Bernard Briand, president of the territorial collectivity of St-Pierre-Miquelon, was the first-ever vehicle to drive off the ferry. As a French citizen, Briand can't enter Canada because of pandemic restrictions, so he had a Canadian citizen make the disembarkation.

On Wednesday, Briand wrote to Trudeau, asking him to consider allowing travel between the islands and the province. St-Pierre-Miquelon has reported just 24 cases of COVID-19 since the onset of the pandemic and 71 percent of the island's 6,500 residents have received their first dose of vaccine. Forming a travel arrangement with Newfoundland and Labrador could be an important first step in the French territory's bid to join the so-called Atlantic bubble, he wrote.

So when the bubble again comes up for discussion again next month, maybe it will be a five-way pact including St-Pierre Miquelon, an even more viable fifth than Cuba.

Cheers

Cliff

P.S. Meanwhile, on the other side of the earth, the Trans-Tasman bubble, connecting Australia and New Zealand, was successfully launched.