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BOATING CLUBS EAGER FOR CROSS-BORDER PORTS TO REOPEN

WITH ONLY 1 PORT OF ENTRY OPEN ON RIVER, BOATING HOURS AWAY TO NEAREST REPORTING SITE 'NOT VERY CONVENIENT': SAILING CLUB MANAGER

ZAHRAA HMOOD zhmood@metroland.com

The Niagara peninsula is ushering in its first postpandemic boating season this spring, but some boaters are anxious to see a full return to normal.

Marina operators along the Niagara River and Lake Erie say they're disappointed boaters crossing the Canada-U. S. border still aren't allowed to access their ports of entry.

Boating clubs in Niagara want to see the Canadian Border Services Agency reopen its small vessel reporting sites, which prior to COVID-19 were places both Canadian and American boaters could report their cross-border water activity.

Robert Ciupa is chair of the Smuggler's Cove Boat Club's operations committee, as well as a lifetime sailor. The boat club, based in Niagara-on-the-Lake, is one of dozens of marinas in the Niagara region still closed this spring: its services were suspended after CBSA restricted cross-border travel during the pandemic.

"We're trying to be good citizens and offer a service to our community and our government," he said. "We don't understand why the CBSA higher-ups choose not to take advantage of that offer."

Of the hundreds of reporting sites open before March 2020 in Canada, 86 have been reopened. The CBSA says it's taking a "phased and measured" approach to restoring border operations.

To date, only three have been reopened in the Niagara region: Lock 1 Port Weller in St. Catharines, Miller's Creek Marina in Fort Erie and Sugarloaf Marina in Port Colborne.

The issue, says Ciupa and other marina operators, is boaters will have to consume more time and more gas reporting back at one of these three sites, versus their own. For Smuggler's Cove and the Niagara-on-the-Lake Sailing Club, the nearest port of entry is Lock 1 Port Weller, adding one to two hours to the journey, depending on the weather.

"It's not very convenient," said Mark Minor, general manager of the NOTL Sailing Club. "It makes people maybe not want to come from the States to Canada if that's where they have to go to

check in."

Beyond using up time, it also presents a safety issue, said Ciupa and Douglas Bienko, commodore of the Buffalo Yacht Club, which has the Point Abino Station in Fort Erie.

"Lake Erie is known for picking up quickly," Bienko said, describing the lake's conditions. "You're

spending an extra four hours on the water."

A spokesperson for the CBSA told Niagara this Week the agency is making sure sufficient resources are available to manage the border, including potentially sending officers to a telephone reporting site to examine and confirm travellers are complying with

public health requirements.

As of April 1, fully vaccinated travellers no longer need to provide a pre-entry COVID-19 test result, but partially or unvaccinated travellers do. Those arriving still need to submit other information through the ArriveCAN app within 72 hours of re-entering Canada.The CBSA said it is conducting an analysis to determine where the closures of reporting sites are impacting its communities most significantly. As it resumes services, the agency will be considering, among other criteria, pre-COVID volumes, proximity to other reporting sites, and the availability of CBSA resources to provide services due to distance.

Niagara Falls MP Tony Baldinelli brought this issue before the House of Commons on May 16, pressing the government reopen sites like Smuggler's Cove and the Greater Niagara Boating Club in Chippawa.

"We need to meet the demands of our boating community by having all sites in Niagara reopened," he said.

The CBSA spokesperson did not provide a timeline of when the marinas can expect to reopen their reporting sites.

Ciupa said he's surprised they haven't been reopened already, with Victoria Day coming up on May 23, and on the other side of the border, Memorial Day on May 30. Holiday weekends usually see a high volume of cross-border boating activity, he said.

"We're always hopeful, and we're patient, but we share the same frustrations of thousands of other recreational boaters in Niagara," said Ciupa.

NEWS

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2022-05-19T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-05-19T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://communitynews.pressreader.com/article/281848647210044

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